Posts tagged 'china'

Summer has announced itself in DC. Last week saw a string of muggy 90°F days, giving way this week to dry, cool breezes, plentiful sun, and clear skies. This took the edge off my nostalgia for Maine. But I have another kind of homesickness. It’s been five years since I last saw China, and of (More…)

The Onion, Chinese Edition The Onion just rolled out this morning with an elaborate “Chinese edition.” They were apparently bought out by the Chinese Yu Wan Mei company, which before entering the newspaper business was a salvage fishery, whatever that means. (The title literally translates to “Fish are perfect.”) Some choice headlines from this edition: (More…)

[Audio clip: view full post to listen] Under Mao Tse-tung, the country used a basic but effective network of so-called “barefoot doctors”. But since the introduction of sweeping economic reforms in the past two decades, everything has changed. The reforms have brought new wealth but the collapse of many local clinics and free services mean (More…)

Tim Wu, via Slate, on why China has been getting so much embarrassing press during the Olympics, even though they’re trying so hard to be good hosts: China’s idea of what makes for a better Olympics for foreign consumption—tightened security and cleaning up marginal elements—is exactly what makes Western reporters crazy…you want to clean things (More…)