By John Hancock, in Beijing Special to The Wild East Democracy and free expression are thriving in China — in cyberspace. While Big Brother asserted himself in 2009, this did not prevent foreign ideas from invading his Internet space and there has been a renaissance in self-expression, comparable to the
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China’s air pollution: Calling the kettle silvery
By John Hancock Special to The Wild East A young Beijing writer recently had the good fortune to be sent on assignment to Mexico City, in order to write a travel article about the metropolis. On his return he said he was surprised to find the traffic wasn’t as bad
Read moreBeyonce in Beijing: Shut up and dance?
While China changes so fast the facts blur, one habit that remains is audiences sitting politely in their seats during rock concerts as if they were listening to political speeches at the National People’s Congress.
Read moreWhen Love is in the Air… in China
The remnants of a typhoon piddled on Qingdao last night, whetting the thirsts of the flowers, trees and citizens, tantalizingly dewy but nowhere near wet enough to slake the dry. So as the sere winds blow in off the Bao Hai Sea, the collective consciousness begins to fret and fray
Read moreFortune-telling Alive & Well in The Middle Kingdom
By Jonathan Chandler Exclusive to The Wild East Certain practices and “superstitions” were frowned upon, violently so, during the Cultural Revolution — a recent hiatus in China’s rich and ancient weave. But with the revival of Confucianism, along with the “opening-up,” a deep thirst for the old ways and the
Read morePeople Mountain, People Sea… of Cars
By Jonathan Chandler Exclusive to The Wild East September is here, and with it the teeming masses have left the beach — drunk down all the Tsingtao beer during the two-week Beer Festival — and returned to the provinces to take their dearly beloved one child per family back to
Read moreJapan's New Era
by Phillip Charlier Japan and the East Asian region face a new era with the election of The Democratic Party of Japan. The ousted Liberal Democratic Party had held the reins of the nation since 1955, dominating the political landscape and being closely identified with Japan’s post-war economic development and
Read moreChina heads to the beach
This is part of an exclusive, copyrighted series by British novelist Jonathan Chandler, “Lowdown on the Middle Kingdom.” For permission to publish elsewhere, contact the author at jonathan at jagchandler dot com. I took an exploratory trip to Qingdao, (my new home for the next two years), a staggeringly huge
Read moreLowdown on Shanghai: Hot town, Summer’s in the city!
Jonathan Chandler is a British novelist currently residing in Shanghai China. This is the latest installment in his series, “Low on the Hai.” He can be reached at jonathan at jagchandler dot com
Read moreSaturday night in small town, provincial China
Part of a series by British novelist Jonathan Chandler, entitled “Low on the Hai” (Lowdown on Shanghai).
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