China’s Olympic fervor is reaching new heights. Last week, movie star Jackie Chan recorded the one-year Olympic countdown song, We Are Ready. You can watch a performance here. (Warning: the catchy chorus might get stuck in your head for hours). This weekend, Xinhua reported on a fellow in Mudanjiang, northeastern China, who constructed an Olympic-ring [...]

There are days living in China, particularly in a relatively affluent city like Shanghai, when life can seem very normal to someone who grew up in the United States. This weekend was sunny and pleasant (the autumn is by far the nicest time of the year here), and I watched my daughter play outside with [...]

I forgot to add this picture to those in the previous post. Some of you may remember the non-controversy stirred up on the Chinese internet over the presence of the Starbucks in a corner of the Forbidden City. After years trying to look inconspicuous, the Seattle company was finally booted out earlier this year. Quite [...]