Posted in China, Travel, Wellness on Sep 30th, 2006 No Comments »
Sometimes, Liu laoshi looks his 77 years. There is a slight hunch of the back, and a sense of tiredness seems to seep out of his sturdy frame.
Turn the conversation to Taichi, and it is as if a fresh spring blows through his bones. His eyes take on a starry night in the country glint, [...]
Posted in Acupuncture, China, Medicine, Travel on Sep 28th, 2006 1 Comment »
It takes an hour and half of cycling through the rattle and screech of Beijing morning traffic to go from south of the Temple of Heaven to north Bee’s Nest road, where Doc Wang has his private clinic. It’s just a bit longer than cycling up to the subway and then compressing into the morning [...]
Posted in China, Language, Travel on Sep 27th, 2006 2 Comments »
In China, this sign basically translates as “clean bathrooms, with soap in the dispenser”
I’m lovin’ it!
Posted in China, Language, Travel on Sep 26th, 2006 No Comments »
… are not to be confused as the same thing.
I get it.
Every day.
With almost every conversation.
The question that always gets asked.
What country are you from?
It is the rare Chinese person that does not ask after the fountain of praise, from hearing 3 words of Chinese come out of my mouth.
I must hear this question at [...]
Posted in China, Travel on Sep 25th, 2006 No Comments »
Sifting through life in Beijing is a lot like panning for gold in an increasingly played out river bed. There are nuggets bright with value, but it requires shaking through a lot of worthless debris. Everything it seems has a grittier edge.
I’ve had cabbies that refuse to stop for my white face, and I’m growing [...]
Posted in China, Tea, Travel on Sep 24th, 2006 No Comments »
Bus, subway, bus, wander through the enormous West Beijing train station to the south lot catch the other bus, then down the street. It’s a long way from south of the Temple of Heaven to the tea market streets on the west side of town.
Both China and Taiwan have this curious commercial habit of jamming [...]
Posted in China, Travel on Sep 21st, 2006 No Comments »
Shanghai isn’t China, the same way that New York isn’t America. It’s a hotpot of traditional, post modern, dreaming of yet to be, salted with a blood lust for commerce. It’s different, and it knows it too. The night train that departs Shanghai now includes a boxed dinner. The Shanghaiese I share the cabin with [...]
Posted in China, Travel on Sep 19th, 2006 No Comments »
You can cross the street anywhere.
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Baozi (steamed buns) cost just under $0.02 from the hole in the wall restaurants with the giant steam filled bamboo baskets.
A nice hour long foot massage, in a place that is NOT smoky is about US$5. It includes a nice soak in hot water first, and shoulder massage.
Cantonese style dimsum [...]
Posted in China, Travel on Sep 19th, 2006 No Comments »
Shanghai has a Yong Kang street, but no Yong Kang clinic
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. yet!
Posted in China, Travel on Sep 18th, 2006 No Comments »
Hong Kong’s airport feels like a German operating room. Clean and efficient. It’s impossible to fly directly from Taiwan to Mainland China. Hong Kong is the hub that turns so much of the commerce and connections from the outside world into China. It’s two hours from there to Shanghai.
Pudong airport is also a surprising model [...]