“Cut Off: The Final Days of General Ming Rui,” The World of Chinese
The sad tale of General Ming Rui, who fought and died in a forgotten war between China and Myanmar [Read More...]
January 2017
“A Teacher’s Advice to His Students for Staying Safe During Spring Festival,” The Beijinger
How to stay safe during the Spring Festival, a holiday generally celebrated with copious amounts of alcohol and explosives. [Read More...]
“Why Do We Call it Spring Festival?: The Origins Behind the Name,” The Beijinger
For thousands of years it was simply called the New Year, at least according to the lunar-solar calendar. So what changed? [Read More...]
“Five of China’s Worst ‘Last Emperors’,” The World of Chinese
In China, the “bad last emperor” is a bit of cliché. The hackneyed revolutions of the dynastic cycle eventually turn from the heroic founder to the dunderheaded descendant who undoes all the founder’s good work. [Read More...]
“Stanford Closes Beijing Study Abroad Program, Enrollments Down at Other Beijing-Based Centers,” The Beijinger
News that Stanford University will shutter its undergraduate overseas studies program in Beijing has focused attention on the future of the city as a destination for US students studying abroa [Read More...]
“Temple Fairs: A Beijing Spring Festival Survival Guide,” The Beijinger
The first question everyone must ask themselves before going to a temple fair is, of course, WHY? Yes, they are excellent ways to get in touch with one of the few Beijing traditions which managed to survive the 20th century. [Read More...]
“It’s Official: The Era of the Cheap Ride-Hailing App Fare is Dead,” The Beijinger
New regulations, announced last year and put into effect in December, as well as the consolidation of rivals Didi Chuxing and Uber, have imperiled this brief golden age of automotive convenience and threaten to force us back into the vaguely hostile and geographically-challenged embrace of the official taxi fleet. [Read More...]
“China Revises University Entrance Exams to Get the Emoji Generation to Read More Classics,” The Beijinger
The Beijing News reports that the Cao Xueqin novel was one of several works included in the new edition of the Gaokao "Examination Study Guide" published by the Beijing Education Examinations Authority this week. [Read More...]
“The Great Chinese Tea Theft,” Here! Dongguan
Imagine Indiana Jones, but if Indy had been a gardener, rather than an eminent archaeologist. Meet Robert Fortune, the man the British East India Company hired to steal tea from China. [Read More...]
“Don’t Be a Fool, Eat Your Gruel: The Story Behind Eating Porridge for Laba Festival, Jan 5,” The Beijinger
Some people will do anything for a free meal, even if that means waiting in line outside in Beijing in the middle of January for nothing more than a bowl of thin 粥 zhōu, or porridge. And yet tomorrow thousands of Beijingers will line up at temples throughout the city to do just that in honor of the Festival of Laba. [Read More...]