Jottings from the Granite Studio

The building of railways in China has had a tortured history. Early attempts were foiled by residents who feared the building of tracks would disturb grave sites and upset an area’s natural harmony.  Laborers who made their living driving cart mules or pulling barges naturally felt threatened by competition.  Despite the best efforts of reform-minded [...]

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There are situations where the venality of officials transcends the usual debate over political systems and makes me despair not for any particular locality or government, but for human nature in general. This is just such a case.
From The Christian Science Monitor:
“When Fang Zhaojuan began organizing her neighbors here to impeach village leaders whom she suspected of corruption, she [...]

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It’s an intellectual treat when somebody reviews a really good book, when the reviewer sinks their teeth into an author’s work, adding additional nuance and insight in a review which both explains and expands on the original argument and analysis.
It may be an intellectual treat, but let’s be honest: it’s not half as much fun [...]

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While David Spindler is fond of correcting the myth that the Great Wall was an elevated highway for guards and soldiers, the Modern Mechanix blog reprints a 1931 article about plans by the KMT government to build a 1500-mile long elevated roadway a top the wall running west from Beijing.  (Click here for the article: Page [...]

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