During Chinese New Year, Chinese gathered together with loved ones to watch the CNY celebrations. People passed around traditional treats like jiaozi and tang yuan. As revelers sang karaoke under red lanterns, one could think for a moment that this was Beijing. But one look out the window upon the streets jammed with matatu (a [...]
Nearly five weeks ago, Beijing experienced its worst day of air quality on record: Levels of PM2.5 — small particulates that can cause lung, cardiovascular and respiratory disease — soared to more than 30 times the level considered safe by the World Health Organization. Air Quality in China — A Snapshot View a larger version [...]
[Ed: A version of this article was first published on Tea Leaf Nation on January 23, 2012] Ah the holidays. Chinese New Year is, of course, a wondrous occasion — a season of pure pyrotechnical and gastronomical joy. There is nothing quite like vegging out with loved ones surrounded by loads of food after enduring an almost ritualistically [...]
This article also appears on ChinaFile, a Tea Leaf Nation partner site. Is “bromance” in the air? Not according to state-run China Central Television (CCTV). Thousands of fans yelled “Get together” in unison when piano prodigy Li Yundi made a guest appearance at Chinese-American pop sensation Leehom Wang’s New Year’s Eve concert at the end of 2012, fueling speculations [...]
Now that the firecrackers have been fired and the leftover dumplings dumped, many Chinese netizens are starting to feel the dreaded New Year’s hangover. All the gifts and red pockets, restaurant bills, train, plane and bus tickets, and those “hated fireworks” have taken their collective toll. In particular, the popular, industrial strength fireworks that light [...]
More than 2,500 years ago, Sun Tze in his Art of War advised warriors to “keep a vigilant eye on defenses” while in enemy territory. In 2012, he may need to add “…and stand still on an escalator.” Mr. Yu Li, an essayist who writes under the pen name Sima Nan, was involved in a freak [...]
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