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Category: China

Travel throughout China

Singing the Same Melody

Singing the Same Melody

Courtesy of  Strait Times
Courtesy of Strait Times

What the Chinese think of my Job

I was on a flight to Beijing to attend a big-wig meeting for ad executives and be the live-interpreter for my CEO.  The flight was early, my eyelids were heavy and all I really wanted to do on that flight was nod off my head to sleep.

But Chinese people tend to be quite chatty on planes, especially with foreigners, and the young man next to me was no exception.  He introduced himself as Chang, we’ll call him, and said that he was a lawyer and represented the online video goliaths youku and tudou.  Wow, I said, and gave him a firm handshake—it’s great to meet you. read more

Yong Fu Lu in Shanghai

Yong Fu Lu in Shanghai

Yongfu lu.  In other words, a Shanghai street filled with blurry memories and mornings of regret.  A street littered with beggars and their babies, with outsiders from Yunan offering marijuana to the flood of incoming foreigners.  A row of taxis wait outside of the night clubs and bars that make up this street, waiting to pick up the next foreigner and take them home–or to a stranger’s home.  It’s a street that every foreigner has frequented at least once, and it’s the place that all cab drivers know as the place of drunk, strange aliens called ‘lao wai.’ read more

One Night in Beijing

One Night in Beijing

So I literally spent one night in Beijing, as the famous song goes:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-E-qmtDPKk&w=420&h=315]

On a complete, random, spur of the moment instinct I hopped on the high speed train and took a five hour (no, you did not misread, five hour) train.  The first three hours were relaxing, a book in hand and some good tunes on my smartphone, but when I got the 4th hour on the train I was starting to go crazy.

Anyway, I made it to Beijing and it was amazing.  Beijing, I love you. read more

Inside the Mind of a Chinese Woman

Inside the Mind of a Chinese Woman

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Inside the Mind of a Chinese Woman

I was having dinner with my old classmate yesterday  and she basically poured out her soul to me.

Now usually when someone opens their heart to you; really, just spills their guts, you discover new things about people you never knew before.

You start to question your own life, your own goals, this world, the universe, why life and death exist.  Nothing is the same for you, for your friend–for anyone.

My reaction?

 Do all Chinese Women Want the Same Thing? read more

Eric X. Li: A tale of two political systems 二政治体制の物語

Eric X. Li: A tale of two political systems 二政治体制の物語

Interested in how the Chinese government works?  Want to hear this guy appeal to the masses about a one party system?

Do you want to read about it IN JAPANESE!?

Knock yourself out

*This is a personal translation, not a professional one.  If my Japanese is incorrect or incomprehensible, please do not hesitate to comment.

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[ted id=1778]

Good morning, My name is Eric li and I was born here.  But no, I wasn’t born there.  This was where I was born:  Shanghai at the height of the cultural revolution.  My grandmother told me she heard the sound of gunfire along with the sound of my first cries. read more