happy lantern festival!

Signifying the end of Chinese New Year celebrations, the Lantern Festival falls on the 15th day of the new year. I headed over to Qianmen Street, south of Tienamen Square, to see crowds and crowds of people along with beautiful handmade lanterns and not so distant fireworks. See a few more of my photos on Flickr.

China aims to move away from OEM

Interesting article with growth of Chinese design and moving from OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) to ODM (original design manufacturers) to more importantly, OBM (original brand manufacturers). China’s design industry experts are calling for greater government support in order to help the country’s manufacturers raise the competitiveness with innovation. Zhu Tao, president of China Industrial Design […]

fooled by look-alike packaging

Wrigley’s, you fooled me! The green label made me automatically think the flavor would be mint. Instead, I opened the package to find an intensely floral taste in my mouth. Ahhh.. I see, the top of the cap says “herbal” and the side has photos of flowers. Fooled. And not enjoying this gum flavor at […]

another I can’t wait: WorldExpo2010

Have you heard? Shanghai will be hosting 2010’s World Expo from May-October this year. I’ve been looking forward to this event for a couple years now, and luckily, I won’t be too far away with a chance to visit! Check out a couple highlights so far: Glowing UK Pavilion will be used as a “seed bank with […]

photo documentary by Lu Guang: Pollution in China

Lu Guang (卢广) from People’s Republic of China won the $30,000 W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography for his documentary project “Pollution in China.” Sad, depressing, and beautiful. More images via ChinaHush I understand, now. My first day in Beijing was a hazy one:

‘Neighborhood Gem Project’

It’s the last day to submit a contribution for the Neighborhood’s Gem Project at Good in collaboration with Pictory. After arriving to Beijing and being a little homesick, I’m happy to have submitted :) I hope my photo makes the cut! It’s great to see a compilation of local neighborhood sites with emphasis on the importance of […]

culture shock #1: my bathroom stall

I’ve arrived in Beijing about 30 hrs ago.. alive, well, jet-lagged, and culture-shocked. I was more than well prepared for squatting toilets, but had no idea what to expect from my living accommodations. Leaving from the states, I thought that I had no expectations. And after arriving from a long journey to find a cozy, […]

Reclaimed Wine Barrels as Furniture

Not all that environmentally friendly when the Etsy seller StilNovoDesign imports reclaimed materials from France to manufacture furniture in California. Beautiful work, nonetheless. via IDSA Materials and Processes

Shanghai: no pajamas in public

The Chinese are trying to become more ‘Westernized’? Or ‘modernized’? Instead of accepting pajamas in public as part of the culture and allowing foreigners to see a different lifestyle, is Shanghai attempting to suppress the daily living habits of their local citizens? The wearing of colorful, boldly-printed pajamas in public has been popular in the […]

‘Beijing design’ embraces cultural roots

An article published at Design Week, before the 2008 Summer Olympics discusses the shift and change in Chinese design, particularly Beijing. I’m curious how things are continuing to progress and re-shape, almost 2 years later. ‘China has been gradually getting its confidence back after the fast development of its economy,’ says Hank Chao, who heads award-winning Shanghai […]

encyclopedia: Chinese contemporary art

ArtSpeakChina is an online wiki of Chinese contemporary art; it’s a collaboratively-authored encyclopedia that launched in November 2009. The guide is bilingual in Chinese and English, comprised of many articles about Chinese artists and the evolution of contemporary art with corresponding timelines of historical and social events. ArtSpeak China now contains well over 300 articles and […]

Why travel? It makes you smarter.

Jonah Lehrer wrote a thoughtful article in the San Francisco Panorama about the cognitive benefits of travel. Travel is not only for business or pleasure; travel allows people to think differently about problems and enhances creativity. Why do we travel? It’s not the flying I mind–I will always be awed by the physics that get a fat metal […]

ice-hockey in Beijing

Canada, where hockey is life.. or something like that. I’m off for my first full day in Vancouver! In the mean time, check it out: Beijing has a hockey league. Too bad it looks like it’s only men’s…? Oh, I do miss skating! Sounds like they’re pretty good, playing in tournaments all over the world. […]

Happy New Year! (Chinese New Year, that is)

Good-bye year of the Cow…Happy year of the Tiger! Coincidently, the Lunar New Year falls on the American Valentine’s Day of February 14th this year. I won’t be spending the day with family; instead, this morning, I’m off to Vancouver with a someone-special to explore and enjoy the Winter Olympics! We don’t have tickets to […]

true ‘fusion’ food: Bánh mì sandwiches

Bánh mì sandwiches, if you’re not familiar, are a delicious Vietnamese sub that come with a variety of different fillings. What makes the Bánh mì unique (and fusion) is the use of French bread and pâté with traditional Vietnamese ingredients of pickled vegetables and meats. It’s interesting to think about how this sandwich came to exist through French-colonial influences […]

Moleskine’s Beijing City Notebook

I got a little going away gift in preparation for my Beijing departure from my good friend over at Moto and Design. Can’t wait to put it to good use! There are a variety of useful references included among the blank pages for note-taking or journal writing. I’ve always been a fan of Moleskines, and usually […]

pop-up shop: Hong Kong’s GOD

Pop-up shops are really starting to catch on. One of my favorite, local Hong Kong shops, Goods of Desire has opened a pop-up shop at the Peak in Hong Kong with some pretty sweet deals. Let me know if you have a chance to check it out and find something good!

Looking forward to Vancouver!

With a nice list from the NYTimes and DesignWeek Vancouver, I’m sure that I’ll wish I had more than a week to eat my way through the city! I had heard that there’s a great deal of Asian food in Vancouver, but I had no idea that it was to such a great extent. I’ll let you […]

GreenPolice: Audi commercial

Audi’s GreenPolice commercial from this past Sunday’s Superbowl: You can’t deny the brilliance behind this commercial. It’s great marketing, pulling at your conscience and connecting to green-concious consumers.

visual trip organizer: Duffel Up

I’ve been doing some house keeping and came across this site that I bookmarked a while ago: Duffle Up. It reminds me of the favorite note taking/keeping app Evernote, but catered towards traveling and collaborating on trips or events. Interesting spin. Has anyone ever used Duffle Up? Or heard of it?