Monthly Archives: March 2011

Pictures: Only In China

Posted on March 30, 2011 by Elliot

A couple of pictures from the China Daily in the last week: Businessman, environmentalist and philanthropist Chen Guangbiao has been donating to victims of the earthquake in Japan, and another earthquake in Yunnan (about which there’s an odd lack of … Continue reading →

Posted in Media and Journalism, Social Phenomena | Leave a comment

Seeking Truth From Facts

Posted on March 25, 2011 by Elliot

  Truth is rarely, if ever, true. but truth in China is less true than other places. Or, more accurately, the inability to credibly verify information means what passes for truth, and gets passed on as truth, is fuzzy and … Continue reading →

Posted in Armchair Theorizing, Media and Journalism | 2 Comments

Group Discounts Online

Posted on March 17, 2011 by Elliot

All the cool kids in China are using tuangou (团购). TuanGou, which roughly translates as group-purchasing, is a new kind of internet based discount shopping, and it’s all the rage. You can buy dinner at your favorite chain restaurant, or … Continue reading →

Posted in Media and Journalism | 1 Comment

Carpe Diem

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Elliot

Watching the ups and downs of China’s current legislative session has me depressed about the state of American politics. Compared to the broad-reaching, idealistic yet pragmatic, and above all pro-active policies coming out of a ‘backward’ and supposedly inferior autocratic … Continue reading →

Posted in Armchair Theorizing, Politics, Government, Law, Etc. | 1 Comment

Catching Up

Posted on March 8, 2011 by Elliot

Coming back from vacation, I’ll add to the swarm of interconnectedness on the web by posting links that give a smattering of recent China news and some ways to look at it: National People’s Congress (NPC) – The annual meeting … Continue reading →

Posted in Media and Journalism | Leave a comment

A Hasty Comparison: Vietnam and China

Posted on March 3, 2011 by Elliot

Just spent a little bit of time in Vietnam and it’s left me with a few impressions that compare China with one of the world’s few other ostensibly communist states. In a lot of ways, Vietnam looks like a younger … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Government, Law, Etc. | 1 Comment