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Chongqing’s Cheating Heart

Ok now I am going to get into some hater shit. I watched an old Katt Williams special last night and he was talking about

Flashlights in the Dark

I have to admit, I haven’t read a single story about foreign journalists with China visa problems. I found them all to smack of the

Stay the course

I recently wrote a post about my Chengdu Compound, and the comments on the post, and on Reddit, reflect two things, in general: 1) Good

I wanna move to Cheung Chau Island

This happened a while ago, but I have to write chronologically, or things that get lost in the ether become floating, flailing spectres and I

Last time I was in Shanghai

… was back in April to visit Chen Jia and her Taiji studio, as well as catch up with a few old friends. Here is

The Pensioners are back

Retired doctors, nurses, and health workers converged on Chengdu’s government offices today for the third time in a month. The first time I was able

We be sharing poetry about Chengdu.

Check it out here on the Chengdu Forum. Or below. Now I know where all the recycling goes down a funk street in hongpailou past the rows

Sinocentrism

I keep reading stuff in the news that reminds me of stuff I wrote a long time ago. My ego demands I put it here

Nothing to See Here

Nobody at my office, in the city’s government building, seems to care much about what happened to the deputy sec. of the whole Province last

Same Work, Same Pay

About 200 pensioners are camped outside of the Chengdu municipal government office building to protest imbalances in benefits offered to private and public sector employees.

Was the Wen Jiabao Story a Leak?

The NYT story on the Wen Family finances that came out in October, Billions in Hidden Riches for Family of Chinese Leader, is lauded by mainstream media

KTVs and Ketamine

Every time I hear the China version of this song, Nana’s Lonely, I think of Huang Shan dancing in front of the speaker in a

Sovereignty

Recently we’ve been treated to a few events that have brought out the reactions of Chinese netizens across the spectrum of opinion, from the reform-minded

Chen Guang Cheng in Limbo …

Chen Guang Cheng’s great escape from house arrest, oppression and beatings has taken an awkward twist, with the activist in the custody of the Chinese

Foreign Men, Represent

If I were single and still in the Game, I would hold myself and all others to an oath of silence on the sociological phenomenon

The sins of the father …

I was struck today by John Garnaut’s profile of General Liu Yuan, embedded in an investigation into PLA corruption. What moved me and stopped me

Bo Xilai’s Dream

Something is happening across China, something impossible to stop and with consequences difficult to foresee. It began with the death of Deng Xiaoping, continued with

China watchers are high

Whenever I open Twitter to see what the people are saying, I end up feeling like the kid who showed up late to the meth

Foreign Tax not about Foreigners

Perhaps this issue is old hat and considering the fact that much of the implementation and enforcement of China’s Social Security Law is, shall we

Silk Roads and Great Walls

What we today call the Chongqing Model and the Guangdong Model are just new names for an ancient struggle. Since the first brick was laid

The Empire Strikes Back

China-based hacks into commercial and political networks across the planet have made the news again, with the Trend Micro report on an attack called LuckyCat

Don’t wink at me

I am a stranger in a strange land. I need connections or I will wither and die. And the connections I need are not just

Speaking of rumors …

The Bo Xilai Incident will not die a quiet death. The plodding censors in the Chinese government are stirring up the rumor pot, and no

A different take on the Wang-Bo Scandal

I didn’t have the confidence to step into the Wang-Bo scandal that has raged across the mainstream Western media (and parts of the Weibosphere) because

Mother’s milk under attack!

There are daily examples all across the world of the media mis-reporting the news and influencing public opinion. Some of them we just let go

Escaping the China Winter

It’s amazing how winter in most Chinese cities cancels out the sun. The skies seem to turn gray across the board, from Jiangxi to Sichuan and

Dying Cultures

I often wondered if generations before us have felt this same sense of impending doom that our epoch currently feels. I don’t wonder about it

Buddhism in China

Several years back I was in a taxi cab headed somewhere and the guy sitting in the front seat was a Fullbright Scholar here in

Scattered Fam

So we’re on the eternal search for “the Spot” that will allow me to sip tea and write best sellers while bean makes big big

A few days in Sanya

For years I avoided Hainan because as far as I had heard, it was a dirty, rude knock-off of nicer islands farther south and west

Pros and Cons

I’m headed to Sanya this weekend to write up some travel stories about the island .. the beaches and some of the luxury hotels. I’ve

Why I came to China …

I walked into the Minneapolis Institute of Arts one day way back in 1998 and saw this massive hunk of jade. It had been commissioned

Chinese Winters Suck

These past days I feel like I am just holding on … waiting for this miserable winter to end. Winters in China are exceptionally difficult

Visa Issues

I made a very big mistake and assumed that I could re-new Dorian’s visa in Germany. His visa expired while we were in Germany for

Horses and Tea and all manner of Roads

I’ve been up and down the “horse and tea trade route” a few times. basically the road from Chengdu south to Bangkok, as far as

Anti-Japan Protests Rock Chengdu

The conflict between the Chinese and Japanese is getting heated. First Chinese “fishing boats” enter “disputed territory” and snoop around.. Japan sends in destroyers to

Big Bosses

I got a new story up, a lil something about a big boss I met back in the day called: Boss Sung’s Wife. I met

Can’t Truss It ..

No No No No! I try not to get sucked into these discussions anymore, but part of my daily routine is to open sites like

Commando Style

Here is a post I wrote about the Big Bus Tour in Shanghai. The interview kinda goes into the exciting way things can get done

Chinese Baby Products Pose a Danger

Last night I spent about an hour putting together a baby bed for Dorian. It was a pretty shoddy little bed and a very shoddy

Google unlocks the vault!!!!

Everything the Chinese government has blocked is now available via Google, including pictures of Tiananmen, articles on Free Tibet and the Dalai Lama and everything

Google fed up with China

You can check out the full article on Google and China here at Chengdu Living. Check it out and leave a comment. PeaceS

China reacts to Avatar the Movie

Avatar the movie opened up in China on January 4th, 2010. Lines stretched for blocks outside of most every theater in the nation for the

Crib finalized

Contract signed. The crib is real nice, we is happy. I wish I could show you pics, but i have to wait till those greasy

Chengdu Living

Spent all day yesterday cooking up various meals and eating them on the spot. I’ve been brewing the soup for two days (into the third)

No surprises anymore

Almost a year ago today, I posted a link to China’s Charter 08 and mused about a possible “transition” led by China to a more

The American Dream and the Written Word

So I am reading Daniel Boorstin, The Seekers, which is the third in a series that begins with The Creators and continues with The Discoverers.

Free to Post

I wrote an essay a while back about censorship in China, for Antiwar.com, and I basically said that within the parameters of black and white,

to all the beauty in your life

back in Shanghai, listening to Christmas music. i had a small panic attack in the vancouver airport as i watched asian people be asian and

this could have been anyone of us

In this story right here, I find a very familiar young man: went to evergreen and became slightly radicalized. got a girlfriend and did what

Sigh

Headed back Here And just to make it even more lovely, i read more about Chinese products ONCE AGAIN making consumers sick and otherwise doing

Moses in the NYT

Dr. Russell Leigh, that is. My old Professor at the U of M was on CNN last year during the Olympics and now he has

Xinjiang protests continue

Here is the BBC on the protests … there is some decent video here showing a large group of Han thugs headed to the Uigher

Violence in Xinjiang

Uighers in Urumqi rioted over the past 24 hours, destroying property, killing people and fighting the police. The immediate cause for the riots was a

Summer in Portland

is almost perfect. its not too hot and when it does get hot the rains come politely like butlers in the morning to dress up

Work is the Enemy of Doubt

Fortuitous fortuitous this is the word of the day. I spent the last two days meeting my old tea suppliers Bai Ting Ting who provides

Chinese girls are silly

My man told me earlier i the week that he would never marry a Chinese girl, even though he has been here for several years

Shanghai

I miss the quiet of my dungeon and the wind through Oregon’s trees. Its sunny here and i am about to be in the Du

Back in China

Shanghai is a sea of skyscrapers as far as my eye can see. There are pockets of two-story blocks of old school homes with laundry

Vision of a Man

I wish i had a better keyboard cuz there is something i need to work out and for me keyboards are … key. I notice

Tell it like it is

Losar is underway and the NYT and Atimes marked the Tibetan New Year with stories about the seething people of Tibet, pinned down by the

China’s Charter 08

“China, as a major nation of the world, as one of five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, and as a member of

how my people do

this is my brother Mike Jones. this is how he do. bend knee and pay tribute.

Democracy in China

Does anyone remember the Give a Hoot, Don’t Pollute campaign and the Crying Indian as kids? How we were taught to throw stuff away. I

to my Chinese peoples

I just had a dream of China in 2028 and it was a beautiful vision. I thought of a metaphor: an old man who has

Bumpin it in China

So here is a lil blurb about the music scene in China and below is my man Himmler’s response: the article is pretty accurate. one

Asia-Europe Meeting

A while back I was sitting in my friend Zhuang Jian’s villa outside of Chengdu, drinking some rare pu’er, smoking herb and chatting with a

China vs. Portland

In Portland, cars will stop on a busy street and let pedestrians cross. Even with a whole line of cars behind them. The pedestrian then

Ma Shan acts like a Child!

I heard this a lot when i was in China (and sometimes here as well) and i always wanted to put across my response: Thank

A nation of loners

Here is a interesting story about China’s One Child Policy … Update: This link actually goes to the column of the day for the Jakarta

Its all bad; its all good

My landlord Nikki V is doing a piece for KBOO Radio about austerity measures people (may or may not have learned from their parents/grandparents) are

The Coming Storm in Xinjiang

  A Muslim pilgrim near Hotan This post here (with accompanying IHT article) tells of the latest heavy-handed policies used by the Chinese government to

Old News and Forgiving Old Friends

Although we may already know that Bush’s policies on pretty much everything have been resounding failures, this in depth analysis of the incompetence and duplicity

Serendipity

I have been talkin about getting portland and china together for a long time on this blog, and look what Mayor Adams is up to

The Aftermath

This will be my last post with Olympic connotations. The Western AND Chinese media are starting to evaluate for themselves what the meaning of this

Back in the Du part Du

So I am back in the Du and it feels all right. As soon as I get here and start meshing with my real people

The Security Establishment

Now that I have finished my stint in a semi-corporate setting in a security company, i can let you know a little bit about how

Dont Believe the Hype

So the Games are over and the Western media is tapping into the fear the American nation has for China’s rise. Its all smoke and

Penultimate Day: A couple pics

I will have a few pics here … i lost my camera and never really bought a new one. I know thats the main thing

Day 15 – Ending with a Bang

Today was quite a day. I watched Cuba whup up on the US in the baseball semifinal and then headed to a spa to wash

Day ?? – Big Day for team finals

The last two days have been pretty fun, but i have not been able to watch anything. The women’s beach volleyball, men’s volleyball, water polo,

We Need Your Help

I was thinking about young Chinese this morning. Last night i was chillin with Li Du, Zachary Mexico and Liang Kegang in a KTV establishment.

Patriotism and Nationalism

I know China is being held up as the petri dish for this discussion, but i urge all peeps to check their surroundings and see

Day 6 – The Calm Before the Storm

The second week is just around the corner and I felt the lull today. Indeed, the preliminaries and qualifying rounds are almost over. The Chinese

Day 5 – I Love China

What a difference a day makes. Today I went and watched the China-Spain B-Ball game and it was off the chains. The big difference between

Day 4 – Chaos and Order

Welcome to China ya’ll. Today started off fine, I woke up and went and did some gong fu with my man Shifu Li Chuan cuz

Trolls.

Anyone who has written or who reads about China issues has encountered the ChiCom Troll. I didn’t realize there was such a distinct term for

Hu Jintao Steps Up

It is a beautiful morning here in Beijing. The sun is blinding white, reminding me of a graveyard shift I pulled in Alaska once. We

Moral Authority?

Its not hard to imagine how China manages to get away with being one of the more brazenly oppressive nations to hold the Olympics in

What did you think was gonna happen?

The fools of the world who believed Chairman Rogge and the Chinese BOCOG are to blame for their foolishness. There are several stories out there:

One Last Roast

Indeed, I wrote a lot about how perfect my “Leaving” is, as it comes almost to the day when i arrived 8 years ago. I

Down in Kokomo

Will the damn Games just start already … All day I got BBC hollerin about censorship, human rights and nationalism in one ear and CCTV

The good news is

That the Chinese are ready to do this. Just Imagine: Your dad grew up smilin if he got some pork in his rice bowl.Your granddad

busy day

In this small blurb about a photo that made it into a tabloid about the Tiananmen protests in 1989, we see another example of the

caterpillar fever

Oh, about 5-6 years ago i saw my first pile of cordyceps in Kangding, Tagong and throughout the Kham area of western Sichuan. Tibetans were

Feelin for Liu Xiang and Obama

Yeah I been criticizing Obama a lot here, I guess its cuz I was so excited and inspired by his nomination run and then to

Chicken Grease

Played cards with the boys last night and it was good “craic.” I think that’s how you spell the Irish version — the lone Irishman

We exist

Last night was great fun. I met up with Zachary Mexico and Li Du of Kunming Paper Tiger fame. I took along a couple of

A Smoggy day in Beijing

There is a situation going on right now at east gate in Beijing. About 100 people and are in the area. The issues is with

Picture me Laughing

china gives peeps designated “arrest me” zones to do their thing. “Chinese people know better than to go demonstrate in a {issue} zone during the

Aint Nothing Changed

Things is hectic in this piece … for real. after the K’ming bombings the government made a few changes to security that are putting a

When things die

I was in Chengdu for the past two days taking care of some business and I went to check out my old home in Three

propagandja

My man Mike the B. and some info on the Freddie Mac thing, which i said was sinister a few days ago …

like i said, communicate

Here is a story that is pretty interesting, in that it shows the polarized views of this country that people have. I am sure that

No Fun Olympics

Check out my no-fun dork shoes: China’s “top-down” approach to security in the Olympics guarantees that there will be very little mirthful exchanges between the

Indocrination II

My good friend and patna Fraggle Beanmilk has just been hired by a large daily newspaper here in the Du. They signed ol’ Beanmilk to

Laughs

(snicker snicker) (cackle cackle)

My Neighbors

Here are some pics by photographer Andreas Mueller of the village i live in and some of my neighbors:

Patterns of Development in China

Francesco Cisci is the Asia editor for La Stampa and a frequent contributor to Asia Times. Here is an essay of his that does a

Hakka in Sichuan

Hey. I am doing research on the Hakka people in Sichuan. The Hakka are sometimes referred to as the “Jews of China.” They reportedly originated

The elephant in my bathroom

how silly we humans be. Sports are and have been one of the ultimate political experiences for societies since the dawn of the ball. A

2008 Olympics: For Chinese only!

The visa situation in China is getting more and more frustrating for foreigners trying to do anything here. How to extend or wiggle one’s way

Blogger up in China!

Well i’ll be damned. After all this time, China has decided(?) to let blogger do its thing. So i am visible in China. This is

it just keeps gettin thicker

ya’ll don’t even know. I went to Hanyuan the other day and just got back in the Du. I was planning on staying a month

The Gov’s Side of the Story

So the meeting between the local government officials of Three God’s Village and the villagers took place today at 10am. The meeting was held in

Wandering Blind

I can’t read my blog right now, but that might end. It has been a common occurrence since I started this thing. Sometimes my proxy

Will Autumn Ever Come?

“Young Fool, only now, at the end, do you understand …” Yesterday I arrived back home from Dujiangyan and there was a small crowd of

Mainstream

For the past week I have been a scab for USAToday. I haven’t actually written anything for them, but just in case the Tangjiashan quake

The Case of Wang Shi

The Chinese government has decided to clamp down on the schoolchildren issue to ensure social harmony and stability. All protests are dealt with by black-clad

serendipity

i just got back from Beichuan a few minutes ago. Beichuan was near the epicenter of the earthquake, so most of the villages in that

what does it take

Today i rolled through Dujiangyan and took a look at the field hospital set up by the German and Sichuan Red Cross. The field hospital

some pics

kitties peep dude in the background. it was a good day. for badass motorcycle love, hit up Carl

Luo Shui

We went to Luo Shui today, about 20 of us in several cars and trucks loaded with toys, paints, candy and other goodies for the

It aint funny

I can’t comment back because blogger is blocked in China … it isn’t funny, what happened to Falun Gong followers in China. The brainwashing campaign

Kids Day

Tomorrow is kids day in China so a group of us are headed north to Shifang to play drums and be funny guys for the

Addendum

This is my house — the farm. About 10km southeast of Chengdu in Three Gods Flower Village, where farmers grow roses and tulips and offer

Test Runs for the Big Show

Wass happenin ya’ll? Its been an easy few days recently. My cats are in heat again so the dirty toms are serenading us all from

Pictures of Qing Cheng Mountain

I posted some pics here of Qing Cheng after the quake. If anyone has any information or people they would like me to contact, please

Woe unto the Enemies of the State

Patriotism at the expense of another nation is as wicked as racism at the expense of another race…Let us resolve to be patriots always, nationalists

A Theory of Relativity

First off: Blogger is blocked in China, so people cannot see it here, I cannot comment back to any of you and i do use

Around Qing Cheng …

Yesterday i climbed as far as it is possible to climb right and Qing Cheng mtn is def. devastated near the top. Past the Tai

On Brainwashing

In China, indoctrination of the youth begins very early. At age 6, young kids are given their first Chinese Reader to learn the vast collection

HK Torch Relay

here is a column i wrote for Antiwar.com that will not get published: On Friday the torch arrives in Hong Kong. Demonstrators from around the

Rationalism is Bleak

Today has been another magnificent day in Chengdu. I am sitting in the Bookworm, a fine place to ease back and read/write be smart with

crackers

be they American from Pennsyltucky or Chinese from Hunan, they make life difficult. Because their lives are difficult. Cracker ass crackers. I am working on

Anger

so the inevitable has happened. i was talking with some friends (chinese) aboutthe possibility of a cultural revolution style environment here in china and we

Benedict Wang?

Its hard work being a thinker in China. I spoke with a young Chinese friend of mine the other day about the indoctrination of students

i’m so slick

not just cuz my insides are covered in hot pot goo, but because twice now i managed to slip through the cracks in the chinese

in case you aint heard II

After spending some quality time with large numbers of the youth of this nation last weekend, I have a few thoughts i must convey: if

Kun Shan

The western media feels guilty for spearing the Chinese. At least some of them do. After jumping all over the Tibet story from the Tibetan

what are they thinkin?

I wrote a column a ways back about the “real China” and how the world would get a glimpse of it this summer during the

the pot boils over

Let me give you a lil background on whats been going down. Hotan is in southern Xinjiang, also known as East Turkestan, which is in

holla

Let me know if you can see my entire blog and comment on it, cuz i can’t. I have been saving up my energy for

Zobel

As told by Markus Tong: “I was guiding a group of people through the Tibetan highlands near Lhasa. we stopped at a village and walked

hong kong feet

as of yesterday, China has adopted US-like security measures for all flights. I had to take my shoes off and they took my bottles of

faded

I am just a few short miles from Aba, where the Tibetans burned down a police station last week. Since that incident it has been

Aint nothin special bout me

i walked back to my house tonight around 2am and i live near the Tibetan district of town. there were police cars on every block

you’ve lost your smile

well it seems the media blockade is working or I just have not been keeping my ears open. Here a response to my last blog

gettin paid

i should be putting this down for an article for Antiwar.com or somebody else, but events move to fast and I enjoy the freedom of

China censors

It might be hard for an American to imagine what life would be like under a dictatorship of the proletariat. What happens, among many other

The diaspora

yesterday i got a message from a young girl — 21 yrs old — and a reporter for the Chengdu Economic Daily. In our society,

Qiangba Puncog must hang

The day after the deadline and people here in China are talking about the protests, both my Laowai homies and my Chinese homies. It is

Hold a Fist Up for Tibet

Yesterday I talked with my editor Katherine about Tibet and she asked what was going on. I said well, if people in Kham and Amdo

The Ends Meet

This one is for my man Flesh if he ever reads this. I have been in China for eight years. Eight, written as we write

Laowai tai duo

yo i am in Lijiang, which i knew sucked hard balls but now after five years i returned to check it out and lord almighty

Dali Town

it always hard for me to escape the monkey in this town. cuz i don’t try hard. the other night we were dancin to irish

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