Destination: Asia
Olympics Tourism Disappoints Beijing Merchants
by Michael Yessis | 08.22.08 | 12:19 PM ET
The expected surge of foreign and domestic tourists never materialized, and restaurant owners and shopkeepers are counting down the hours until the Games are over, reports the Los Angeles Times.
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Yahoo! BuzzHeaded to Angkor Wat? Beware the Dengue.
by Jim Benning | 08.21.08 | 11:15 AM ET
World Travel Watch notes that, although dengue fever cases in Cambodia are down from last year, “the risk is still high in major tourist areas, especially Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, home of Angkor Wat.” Dengue, of course, is spread by mosquitos that are no doubt loving monsoon season in Southeast Asia. How I hate monsoon season. As we’ve noted, dengue is expected to rise around the world as temperatures increase, and dengue should be taken seriously: The less common hemorrhagic dengue can be fatal.
Travel Headline (and Video) of the Day: ‘Monkey Stuns Japanese Commuters’
by Jim Benning | 08.20.08 | 1:47 PM ET
The stray monkey showed up at a Tokyo train station. What a scene.
In Beijing: The Elephant in the Olympic Village
by Eva Holland | 08.14.08 | 9:51 AM ET
Don’t let my previous posts fool you: there was more to my time in Beijing this past week than just some good-natured nationalism and the occasional bureaucratic annoyance. Sure, everybody at my hotel had a good time—but there was an unacknowledged tension, too, lurking just under the surface.
Unsentimental Journeys: Wrestling With Paul Theroux
by Bronwen Dickey | 08.13.08 | 11:53 AM ET
Bronwen Dickey considers "Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: 28,000 Miles in Search of the Great Railway Bazaar"
How David Brooks Explains the World
by Michael Yessis | 08.13.08 | 11:51 AM ET
Among the ways he says the world can be divided: Societies with an individualist mentality versus societies with a collectivist mentality. Specifically, he writes in the New York Times, “Americans usually see individuals; Chinese and other Asians see contexts.” Intriguing, but also a ridiculous generalization, according to James Fallows.
Dave Barry in Beijing: No ‘Chicken Without Sex Life’ for Him
by Valerie Conners | 08.12.08 | 2:25 PM ET
Pulitzer Prize-winner Dave Barry has been writing columns in the midst of Beijing’s Olympic bedlam.
In Beijing: Olympic Travel Junkies
by Eva Holland | 08.11.08 | 1:49 PM ET
My companions at the hotel here vary by age, gender, nationality and sport of choice—but as we’ve chatted over breakfast or on the shuttle to the subway, I’ve learned that there’s one thing many of them have in common: this isn’t their first Olympic Games. “Calgary, Barcelona, Atlanta ... Sydney, Nagano,” one man rattled off during a subway ride. His wife added: “Don’t forget Salt Lake!” Another man scratched his head thoughtfully when I asked how many Games he’d attended. “I guess I got started back in ‘76,” he said, “in Montreal.”
In Beijing: Three Cheers for Cheers
by Eva Holland | 08.11.08 | 11:43 AM ET
Last night I made it to some boxing preliminaries at the evocatively named Beijing Workers’ Gymnasium. The crowd—mostly Chinese, with scattered pockets of brightly colored foreigners—was a quiet one, rarely reacting to what happened in the ring with more than a low “oooh” or “aaah,” despite the organizers’ best efforts.
Which Way to the Bird’s Nest? Chinese Help for Tourists.
by Julia Ross | 08.11.08 | 11:41 AM ET
ChinesePod, the wonderful online Mandarin language service I’ve recommended before, recently launched a companion site to help English-speakers navigate the Beijing Olympics this month. The site offers a number of downloadable Olympics-themed Mandarin lessons, plus audio translations of Olympic venue names and sporting terms like “pommel horse” and “cross-court shot.”
In Beijing: A Rainbow of Nations
by Eva Holland | 08.09.08 | 2:43 PM ET
I’ve been to plenty of world-renowned tourist spots before. But as I walked around the Forbidden City yesterday, I found myself thinking that the hordes of travelers in Beijing were a far more diverse bunch than the crowds I’d jostled with at the Taj Mahal, say, or Edinburgh Castle. Then, after a little more thought, I realized that wasn’t it. The people around me didn’t necessarily hail from a broader range of countries—the difference was that almost everyone was, literally, wearing their national colors on their sleeves.
In Beijing: Red Tape and Roadblocks
by Eva Holland | 08.09.08 | 12:51 PM ET
It didn’t take long to get my first taste of bureaucracy in action. On Friday, I found a police line about a block from Tiananmen Square—unbeknownst to the thousands of tourists in town, the square and the southern entrance to the Forbidden City had been closed to the public, in preparation for the opening ceremonies. On Saturday, they were at it again: the Badaling portion of the Great Wall had also been closed, along with the Ming Tombs, in deference to an upcoming cycling road race.
J. Maarten Troost: Enduring Pollution and Reptile-Laden Lunches in China For Our Benefit
by David Farley | 08.08.08 | 10:39 AM ET
David Farley chats with the author of "Lost on Planet China" about the Olympic Games, Tibet and eating not-so-well in the Middle Kingdom
In Time for the Olympics, a National Anthems Primer
by Julia Ross | 08.08.08 | 8:27 AM ET
Photo by Philip Jagenstedt via Flickr (Creative Commons).
China’s national anthem, March of the Volunteers, never fails to summon memories of my teaching experience in Shanghai several years ago, when I’d watch 1,600 grade schoolers greet each morning with a full-arm salute to their nation’s red and gold flag. I’m preparing to relive that experience many times over this month as I watch Chinese Olympians take to the podium in Beijing.
In Beijing: Not So ‘Sanitized’ After All?
by Eva Holland | 08.08.08 | 8:19 AM ET
Good news for anyone who’s been worrying that preparations for the Beijing Olympics might wind up turning the city into a slicked-up, modernized, westernized shadow of its former self.