Monday, February 27, 2006
Not surprisingly, my mother’s favorite place in Beijing happens to be Wal-Mart or “War-Mah.” Located in the southern part of town, one sees it’s familiar and unsettling blue sign from far, far away. The first floor features bins of socks and underwear, with ladies handing out instant coffee samples and hundreds of newly-weds maneuvering their [...]
Thursday, February 23, 2006
I’m sure there are 100 urban planning theses currently being written on this topic, and for good reason. It’s impossible for anyone who spends time in this city not to be aware of it: the cranes, the rubble, the dust, the half-built towers, the coal-grey sky. Everywhere you look there are signs of urban development. [...]
Monday, February 20, 2006
Since moving to Beijing, I have not seen a single set of white Apple earphones poised before the eardrums of a single person. Not one.
(ed. Looking back at this post 1 year later, I’m struck by how different the streets appear today. Scores of kids and office workers alike roam the streets with white earbuds [...]
Saturday, February 11, 2006
About this face of mine. I suppose, among other faces nearby, it appears identical. Dark eyes against a pale face inset with a downturned smile. A course skein of black hair as a frame. One face moving past a million others on an escalator, shrinking behind an elevator door, turning away against a slap of [...]
Thursday, February 9, 2006
My eyesight is very poor. My most recent visit to the optometrist pegged me at -6 diopters in each eye, which means that I can see about 12 inches in front of my face before everything in my plane of vision drops off into haze. I used to like to leave my contacts and glasses [...]
Wednesday, February 8, 2006
At 3 pm everyone stops what they’re doing. Laptops nudged closed, computers relax into screensavers, legs elevated atop empty aeron chairs. My neighbor, sloped shouldered with a spiky silver mullet, is the ringleader. He owns the tea set, divvies out the cigarettes, and chooses who to light up first. Lifting the teapot high into the [...]
Tuesday, February 7, 2006
The graying man named Feng had left his farm in the north to earn money for his son’s education. Wrinkled and weary, he admitted he was only 35 lived but felt and appeared so much older. 100 years old some days, 50 on others. Usually somewhere in between. Absentmindedly threading his way through traffic, he [...]
Wednesday, February 1, 2006
It’s February 1: moving day. We didn’t have much time to find and outfit an apartment (just about a week, when you account for New Year holidays), so we were determined to act quickly. We signed our lease just four days after arriving in Beijing. The next day we were out hunting for furniture. We [...]
Wednesday, February 1, 2006
jiaozi - Dumplings plumped with pork and fresh vegetables. Mostly consumed steamed, they may be found pan-fried (guotie) or floating in broth (xuejiao). Served steaming hot and by the pound, diners are encouraged to mix their own spicy, vinegary, sugary, salty sauce for dipping (and subsequent splashing on their sweaters).
hong xu pian - Similar [...]