During our last editorial meeting, we got to talking about communism. I'm not sure exactly how the conversation started or the exact context, but it's an interesting topic that we don't really stop to think about too much in the U.S. Ever since Deng Xiaoping sent China's economy moving toward capitalism, China hasn't been strictly communist ( Read more... )

It's definitely summer in Beijing. As the heat rockets into the triple digits here, it's a subtle reminder of all that the season has come to represent back in the U.S.--beaches, bikinis, suntans and that elusive other, the summer romance. There's not much in the dusty streets of Beijing to remind me of North Carolina beaches, and my skin screams ( Read more... )

At 4 p.m. every Tuesday members of the newsroom here at China Daily engage in what manages to simultaneously be the most boring and most entertaining part of the week--the editorial meeting. Editorial meetings here in China are about as different as the Chinese media is from the Western media. Inevitably it boils down to about an hour or an hour ( Read more... )

After a typical workday or during a weekend night, there's one place in Beijing where you stand a good chance of finding me and my friends. We've given it several nicknames, and I honestly can't tell you what its Chinese name is. It's the restaurant on the corner near the China Daily office. Also affectionately dubbed "the red place" for its red ( Read more... )

So I'm officially in my fifth week back in Beijing. Yes, I have been woefully bad about writing down my thoughts this time around. But don't worry, I have a lot to say. Probably a lot more of substance to say this time around than I did last summer. Chalk that up to a year of life experience and a lot more exposure to Chinese intellectual thought ( Read more... )

I don't care who you are or what you believe, but this column is important. It's basically a plea for sanity by the American public on Tuesday ( Read more... )

I'm leaving tomorrow to head back home. I'll arrive in Tokoyo Monday night by 7:30 p.m. We have a layover for a night, so I won't leave Japan until Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. However, I'll get my day back and arrive in Chicago about 9 a.m. Tuesday. After that, I'll be back in Chapel Hill by about 6 p.m. Tuesday night. I'm extremely excited to call/see ( Read more... )

To start, I finally got all my stuff worked out for getting back to the U.S. I'll be back in the U.S. the morning of the 15th (a Tuesday) and to Chapel Hill around 5 p.m. or so. I've been really stressed out about getting a flight back earlier than the 20th, so this comes as a big blessing. One of the guys here is staying an extra semester, so he's ( Read more... )

I realized that when I filled this out I skipped the third column entirely. So here it goes again. Look for a blog the next few days about my amazing trip this weekend mountain climbing in Taishan!

(Click here to post your own answers for this meme.)

✓ I miss somebody right now.
✓ I don't watch much TV these days.  (Man do I miss American ( Read more... )

Staying busy studying Chinese like a good little girl, but I thought I'd take the time to update y'all on my exciting past week in China ( Read more... )