Perhaps you missed the last visit of the majestically inbred boy-king of Egypt as he was hauled about the world for all to revere. And maybe you’ve never graced the great halls of the British Museum to look upon its chunks of Grecian monuments. Or stepped up to the mighty pyramids and...
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A deep, stentorian voice echoed through the dry canyon air. Laser beams scattered across the wide, flat surface, forming images to match the narrator’s tale: trampling mustangs of water, swooping eagles, the Statue of Liberty. It was a story of mythical proportions, the battle of man versus nature, national progress, and Democracy,...
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We go to the river when we can. From our apartment it is just a quick turn and a crossing and we are there. It is wide as it bisects the city of Yichang, and slow moving. The water is not clean. We judge the quality of the air...
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Part One: The Patrons
A Chinese museum is a fascinating place. Not because of the exhibitions of history. No, in a country with a heritage longer than that of Jesus the ubiquitousness of artifacts is less impressive than expected. Nowadays, with a proliferation of middle class Chinese people embracing all forms of...
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Stuff People Ingest Voluntarily episode 31
Before you start accusing us of focusing on the poor, fading laundry as part of our own Antonioni scheme to sabotage the world’s image of an entire nation, let us be clear: we are more interested in the one small bright square so carefully preserved like some tiny peep...
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The Nanjing Galaxy Yacht Club floats securely in the yellowish, turbid water of the Yangtze River. The neighborhood – in the northwest of the city, far from the Ming Dynasty wall – is mostly industrial. Not far upstream is the famous Yangtze River Bridge, a dark, ominous shape stretching across the water....
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I have seen only
one true city
that cannot hide
its true citiness;
In the desert a city
cannot escape itself;
It must come out at night:
it is only practicality;
Even its religions
can only hope
to steal its reasons
for their own.
A city is not the cars dusty
wrapped in cloth
Or the style of cloth
wrapped round the people
to keep out the dust;
It is not...
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The niu year has now passed. While it may be inauspicious to go digging up old news and past grudges, a quick rummaging through our archives has revealed a few loose tigers, so to speak, which deserve a bit of the spotlight on this festive day. And perhaps they can help us...
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Totally Awesome Picture of the Week 68
In the dark corner of a far away forlorn church stand these three forgotten souls. Bruised, dirty, chipped and abandoned they doze like wallflowers in the shadows as patrons play hooky for every reason but lack of sin.
In their bright vestments creased with dust the saints and...
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