Destination: China
American Teacher Attacked by Chinese Mob
by Jim Benning | 04.23.08 | 2:49 PM ET
Very scary story out of China: A 22-year-old American volunteer teacher in the Hunan Province city of Zhuzhou was reportedly attacked by a mob outside the French grocery store chain Carrefour on Sunday. According to one account, attackers chanted “Kill him! Kill the Frenchman.” The AP reports that the man was “quickly whisked away by police and was not hurt.”
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Yahoo! BuzzMeet Li Yang, ‘China’s Elvis of English’
by Michael Yessis | 04.23.08 | 9:51 AM ET
Terrific story in the New Yorker about the Beijing man behind “Li Yang Crazy English,” whose slogans include “Conquer English to Make China Stronger!” Evan Osnos writes that Li is “the world’s only language teacher known to bring students to tears of excitement.” Officials in Beijing have turned to him to teach English to his compatriots before the Olympic Games this summer, but as Osnos writes—and that slogan hints at—it’s about more than language.
Out Today: Pico Iyer’s ‘The Open Road’
by Jim Benning | 03.25.08 | 1:58 PM ET
The timing is remarkable. After Pico Iyer spent five years working on his new book about Tibet’s spiritual leader, The Open Road: The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama hits bookstores today—at a moment when Tibet is making headlines around the world. If nothing else, it assures Iyer’s work will find an audience beyond armchair travelers and Tibet admirers. We’ve just posted an interview with Iyer in which he explains why travel is at the heart of the book. Elsewhere on the Web, reviews and related Dalai Lama profiles are beginning to trickle in.
Travel Across the Taiwan Strait: A Historic Opening?
by Julia Ross | 03.24.08 | 10:19 AM ET
Last June, I traveled to the tiny Taiwanese island of Kinmen, which lies a mere mile off the coast of China’s Fujian province. The waters between the island and the mainland constitute the narrowest point in the Taiwan Strait, and, standing on the Taiwan side, I found the view slightly surreal: I peered through giant telescopes to see Fujianese fishing boats bobbing happily in the middle of one of the world’s tensest political flashpoints. It seemed downright peaceful.
China Blocks Travel to Ethnic Tibetan Regions
by Jim Benning | 03.20.08 | 12:21 PM ET
Tibet is often narrowly defined as the Tibetan Autonomous Region, but as the BBC points out, half of all Tibetans live outside it. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that recent protests over China’s rule of Tibet have spilled over those borders, too, into the ethnic Tibetan Chinese provinces of Gansu and Sichuan, among other places.
China’s ‘Boxer Shorts Rebellion’
by Michael Yessis | 03.18.08 | 12:37 PM ET
A man known online as Chinabounder went to Shanghai “to teach English and, apparently, have a little naughty fun on the side,” writes Mara Hvistendahl in a New Republic story. That allegedly included “gallivanting with local women” and blogging about it, which inspired an online posse to get Chinabounder kicked out of China.
Violent Protests Prompt Travel Warnings for Tibet*
by Jim Benning | 03.14.08 | 11:40 AM ET
Ethnic Tibetans burned cars and shops in Lhasa, Tibet today, capping a week of demonstrations marking the anniversary of the 1959 uprising against Chinese rule. (Unless, of course, you’re domestic Chinese media, in which case nothing is happening.) The U.S. Embassy in Beijing advises Americans to defer trips to Tibet.
* Update, 12 p.m. ET: Chinese police have reportedly fired on protesters, killing at least two people. Said one witness: “As I approached Potala Square, I heard cannon fire, louder than rifles. Others told me police were firing tear gas along Beijing Zhonglu, west of the Potala.”
William Langewiesche in China: ‘No Pushing! No Swearing! No Irony!’
by Michael Yessis | 03.13.08 | 3:14 PM ET
Yet another high-profile U.S. writer has journeyed to China to take the country’s pulse in advance of the Beijing Olympics, this time in a 2,900-word piece in Vanity Fair. Langewiesche’s take:
China Bans Mount Everest Climbers on Tibet Side
by Michael Yessis | 03.13.08 | 9:57 AM ET
The Tibet side of the mountain will be shut to down until May 10, effectively stopping climbers from making any serious tries at the summit this season. Why?
China to Bjork: You Hurt Our Feelings
by Jim Benning | 03.10.08 | 4:00 PM ET
It’s official: Bjork “hurt the feelings of the Chinese people” when she shouted “Tibet! Tibet!” at the end of a recent concert in Shanghai. That’s the word from the Ministry of Culture. The outburst came following the Icelandic singer’s performance of her song “Declare Independence.” Reports Reuters: “The performance ‘not only broke Chinese laws and regulations and hurt the feelings of Chinese people, but also went against the professional code of an artist,’ the ministry said in a statement quoted by the official Xinhua news agency.”
Bjork Shouts ‘Tibet! Tibet!’ in Crowded Shanghai Theater
by Jim Benning | 03.04.08 | 10:43 AM ET
The Icelandic singer’s bold public show of support for the “Tibet Autonomous Region”—she shouted “Tibet! Tibet!”—came at the end of a concert in Shanghai Sunday, capping her performance of the song “Declare Indedependence.”
Zheng He: China Embraces Legacy of ‘Legendary’ 15th Century Explorer
by Michael Yessis | 02.18.08 | 5:07 PM ET
The city of Nanjing plans to reproduce one of the boats in the fleet of Zheng He, who led explorations to Vietnam, Siam, Malacca, Java, India, Sri Lanka, Arabia and other lands in the early 15th century, well before European explorers made their marks on history. From Archaeology magazine:
Of Memory and Chinese New Year
by Julia Ross | 02.07.08 | 7:33 AM ET
The Year of the Rat begins today, and I’m missing the firecrackers outside my window at 6 a.m. A year ago, I was living in a fourth floor walk-up above a night market in Taipei, taking in the full clamor of Chinese New Year for the first time.
China Plans ‘Weather Modification’ for Olympics
by Jim Benning | 01.31.08 | 1:05 PM ET
We’ve already reported that Chinese officials are toiling to rid Beijing of troublesome mixed elbow with garlic mud in time for the Olympics. Now comes word they also want to rid the city of rain—at least for a short while. According to the Los Angeles Times, meteorologists will be working to ensure that nary a drop falls during the Aug. 8 opening ceremonies. Writes Barbara Demick: “Chinese scientists believe they have perfected a technique that reduces the size of the raindrops, delaying the rain until the clouds move on.” Too bad they can’t delay some snow right now.
Photo by Ingsoc via Flickr, (Creative Commons).
How Bad is Travel in China Right Now?
by Jim Benning | 01.31.08 | 9:50 AM ET
It’s hard to imagine it getting worse. On Tuesday, we noted the bullhorn-wielding prime minister’s apology to travelers. Now, as a result of the worst winter storms in half a century, Chinese officials are asking migrant workers to cancel their trips home for Lunar New Year celebrations—no small request.