Another look at Beijing’s Hutongs

It’s been almost a year since I’ve left Beijing and I still think about how the city landscape was in such dramatic change while I was there, as I’m sure it still is. At that time I also met Jonah Kessel (via Twitter), who filmed a series of short videos for Asia Society, the first is titled “A Disappearing World.” […]

Flickr uploads from Yunnan Province

Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season :) The recent few days of public holiday in Hong Kong have been rather nice for the Christmas season. As a result, I’ve finally had the chance to do some end-of-the-year cleaning of photos. And I’ve gotten around to editing photos from all the way back in […]

HK Food Re-caps

I returned to HK yesterday from another trip to Xining, China… and looking forward to a pizza lunch in Central. It’s been a while since I’ve had American food (though it seems that’s all I write about)! This is just a quick update to share what I’ve been writing for VeggieWala. Check out a few things […]

亲爱的日记 (或亲爱的网络)

三月底的时候我用英文写了一个博客文章,让我想多了。现在我想试试用中文写一张。首先,不好意思,我非常长的时间没写(打)中文了!还有,这个主题自是过去年的印象,印象也对自己的想发,等等。好了,我试试开始! 很有意思啊,我写了英文张博客的时候是刚从青海省西宁市回香港的。我现在写这张,也在西宁了!太重合了!:)

TEDtalk: How Westerners can make sense of China (And some rambling)

Watch this 20 minute TEDtalk by Martin Jacques, which gives some wonderful insight into China and how Westerners can better understand China and its growth. Jacques identifies some key points of  Easterners being more knowledgable of the West because they have been forced to learn from these powerful, developed countries. In the time that I’ve been in […]

Lucky Bookstore, Shanghai

It’s a week into the Year of the Rabbit and I’m wishing everyone all the best for the new lunar year! To keep with the luck, perhaps a visit to the lucky bookstore is an order: Happy Chinese New Year! And there couldn’t be a more fitting way to be greeted into the year of […]

Wudaokou’s King of Dates

Since a friend introduced me to the Date Cake shop of Wudaokou (五道口), I’ve been addicted! Continue reading to find out more:   Have you ever had a ‘date cake’? If not, it’s definitely worth the long Beijing commute to try. The little shop on the north side of Chengfu Lu, about 5 minutes walk […]

Happy New Year! (and A Brandnü Way of Thinking)

Happy 2011! Wishing everyone all the best for the coming year :) Here’s to the first post of 2011 and an update of my own! Design Museum Boston is proud to present Tiffany Wan, the newest addition to our correspondents team. A graduate of Syracuse University and currently located in Beijing, Tiffany will be bringing an […]

a few photos

NanLuoGuXiang Chess:南锣鼓巷象棋 It’s been a while since I posted! Apologies! And this one is going to be short… just a few photos that I’ve taken in the past couple months that I quite like :) 抱歉我最近没写。。这个post也很短,只让你看看我这几个月拍的几张照片儿。我相当喜欢! Tianjin Snacks:天津小吃 Hutong Bikes near Lama Temple:胡同自行车在雍和宫附近

华侨 (HuaQiao) vs. 华人 (HuaRen)

When I first arrived here in China, people would ask “where are you from?” or “你是哪国人?” And I’d respond, I’m from the States, 是美国的. Sometimes they were confused, how could an Asian-looking person be from the States? Other times they asked again, “Are you an overseas Chinese?” “华侨啊?” Sometimes they would use “huaqiao” and sometimes […]

before a move to China: part 2

Before moving anywhere, even to the next neighborhood, it’s always a hassle and headache, let alone across the globe! I previously had a few things to say about some common issues and encounters at the beginning like internet access beyond the GFW and personal care products. Here are a few more points to consider, thanks […]

Happy Magic Water Park

Design friend @ssshaona posted a link to information about the new “Happy Magic Water Park” in Beijing. The Water Cube of the Beijing Olympic park has undergone renovations to be transformed into an indoor water park. After reading the blurb, more than 1 friend here in Beijing has mentioned of hearing the same! Looks like it […]

Internet frustrations and some

I got back to Beijing about two weeks ago and it’s been a slew of things to take care of… First things first, did you know that there are two types of internet here in Beijing? No, it’s not dial-up versus DSL. Internet service here is provided by China Unicom, 中国联通, and there are 2 types […]

before a move to China…

In a few days, I’ll be headed back to Beijing once again and during my time in Boston I had an interesting conversation with ID (Industrial Design) friend @jomiz80. Reflecting on my 1st 4 months in Beijing, it was actually a great experience, even with the handful of negative encounters. Surprisingly, this was the first […]

must know Chinese companies

Recently, China surpassed Japan as the world’s 2nd largest economy. A couple months ago I had a discussion with a classmate about our adjustments to living in Beijing. One of the biggest adjustments that seem so simple and natural in our respective home countries is the idea of brands. We know who to trust, what […]

Chinese currency: 1 currency, mulitple names

With few things in China being black and white, it’s no wonder there’s more than 1 way to address the Chinese Currency: “Renminbi” is the official name of the currency introduced by the Communist People’s Republic of China at the time of its foundation in 1949. It means “the people’s currency”. “Yuan” is the name […]

random photo: China life

I took this photo during my trip to Nanjing only as a way to document my walk that day and the things I’d seen. Looking at the photo again, now, I’m not quite sure what’s going on here…There’s something really intriguing to me to know what daily life is like for this lady. Definitely hanging […]

IKEA as a family attraction

An LA Times article documents Beijingers’ visit to IKEA. Families drive hours to visit the famous IKEA store, but not because of the well designed, DIY assembly furniture. They’ve come to experience the lifestyle and enjoy themselves in an air-conditioned space, where purchasing something is not necessary and their kids can jump and play on the […]

a trip to the hospital

Back in April, I was sick for a couple weeks and made myself go to the local hospital to get checked out. An interesting experience, with no one speaking English. Suffice to say, I still got prescriptions and have been happy and healthy since. A couple photos from my visit: The public hospital is incredibly […]

flickr uploads: Suzhou and Zhouzhuang (苏州和周庄)

Suzhou, known as the Venice of China is famous for its canals (many of which have now been filled in), but there are also many smaller towns around Suzhou also built on the canal system. Zhouzhuang is on of them. A true tourist destination, having to pay RMB$100 to even enter the town as a […]