Magazine

The Visiting Professor

One of the great joys of leaving my post as a senior manager in a British university 6 years ago was the freedom to take up some of the many invitations I had been receiving for years to visit...

What’s Another Year? Fear and Respect for Birthday Rituals

Do you get the feeling that whenever something good happens, something bad is almost certain to follow? I’m sure that almost everybody has experienced this in one way or another, at one point. There is some truth in the...

Gift-Giving Traditions; A Cultural Dilemma of Receipt

At the core of every culture, within their respective holidays and customs lie an almost inherent tradition of gift-exchange.  From striped-ribbon boxes that sleep under a tree, to envelopes that don a rich red hue, the idea of “gifts” has...

Midway Upon the Journey of Our Life

“Midway upon the journey of our life / I found myself within a forest dark / For the straightforward pathway had been lost.” (The Divine Comedy; Dante Alighieri) Do you remember when you were little, thinking “I can’t wait ‘til...

Down to the Stalls; Studying the Surge in China’s Street Markets

If you want to get to know a city in China, you must visit the street markets in that city, where the stalls are small but big enough for various local-style goods, where the stall owners are by nature...

What Future for the Freelance Rubbish Recycling Grannies?

You know who they are. Almost without exception, they wear the same clothes every day. Mind you, they seem so dirty that even if they were changed, you would hardly know the difference. Mostly, they are female, but oddities...

I Eat therefore I am 
But what am I Going to Do about it?

“I am not eating that! It’s been expired for over a year now.”
 “So, what? It doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with it…” Now this, shockingly, is quite common in my house. Often, we have some old food packets and expired...

Thou Shalt 
Not Waste: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Reclutter!

Recently, I moved house, because 2020 wasn’t stressful enough.  最近,我搬家了,因为2020年没有足够的压力。 A trek on par with that of Hannibal and his elephants ensued. Friends and neighbours gaped aghast at the endless moving vans, three wheelers and scooters of boxes that zoomed across...

Latest News

Car-Bed Campers Turn Hotel Car Parks into Free Showers and Toilets

Chinese road trippers are swapping hotel rooms for the back seats of their own cars, folding them flat into...

China’s Metro Map Grows by Almost 65km Ahead of National Day

China’s National Day holiday has arrived with three cities adding new metro links. Nanjing, Qingdao and Changchun have opened...

Shanghai’s Railway Map Shifts East; Cross City to Hongqiao soon but a Memory

For years, Shanghai’s high-speed rail map has pulled passengers towards Hongqiao. That balance is beginning to change. New stations...

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