Face Value
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. There are no [...]
New Year Predictions
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 in our unsolicited [...]
What My Student Gave Me: an unabridged journal entry
May 20, 2008 – Yichang, China “Dazed morning at the primary school, raspy voice trying to read a book about butterflies over the constant murmurs of the students. One of my students, the one with the possessed eyes, has now given me a little ‘present’ – twice now. Actually, today before class he came up [...]
HE FOUND SOMETHING UP THERE!
A young Chinese man who mines his nose for a living is said to have discovered a new and important substance he calls, Yichang Gold. “I was exploring the eastern gallery when all of a sudden I came across a hard foreign feeling substance. I used my extra long leisure nail to scrape it loose. [...]
Traces of Progress: Attention to Detail
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What We Could Sell if Only We Owned a Tricycle: Idea 9
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Garbage Ninja Report Update
It has been over a year since I last wrote on the Garbage Ninja species. Don’t let this fool you. We have not for one moment slackened our research or field work on the subject. Nor have we been entirely frustrated by a lack of results. You may remember from the original Garbage Ninja Report [...]
GOAT CHARIOT RACING SUFFERING FROM ECONOMIC DOWNTURN
Yichang, CHINA – There is an old saying: “As goat racing goes so goes the nation.” Unfortunately, if the favorite pastime of central China is the indicator it is said to be, it seems the nation may be in greater danger than previously expected. “It is quite a bad sign,” said Zhang Xiao Lu, director [...]
This Ridiculous World Guide: China – Walls
China loves Walls. Chinese people build walls everywhere. Some are great, some are less so. Many serve multiple purposes such as advertising, keeping people in, keeping people out, hiding something from view, indicating property line, etc. Usually, when a wall isn’t tall enough to deter ninjas, they line the top with shards of glass. Some [...]
Traces of Progress: Private Stalls at the Trough
Editor’s Note: This was an especially great restroom. The men’s side was slightly higher so their waste flowed like a spring stream between your feet while you did your business. Past the lady’s room, the current drifted freely into a farmer’s field. Share this:EmailRedditStumbleUponDigg
Keeping the Masses Busy – Puzzles
The question was posed to us with a half-chuckle, by a portly man plucking meat from a pot of boiling oil with chopsticks: “In France,” he said, “They have the same streets for hundreds of years, but here we remake them every year! Why do you think so?” “Maybe the government needs to keep people [...]
Quarantine vs Guacamole 2009 -OR- Children’s Day: Best Day Ever.
On this holiday in 2008 the Olympic torch passed over the quaint dam nearby and into our city of Yichang. This year’s big event, best known as Swine Flu, made a surprise appearance in the form of an alleged Nanjing city-wide mandate for foreigners to be quarantined (in their personal apartments) for a week upon [...]
Jun 01, 2009 | Categories: China, Nanjing, NEWS FLASH, Yichang | Tags: Children's Day, Foreigners in China, Humor, kids with toy guns, little emperor, one child policy, quarantine, social commentary, spoiled brats, swine flu, tired parents | Leave A Comment »