Background: For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After World War II, the Communists under MAO Zedong established an autocratic socialist system that, while ensuring China's sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. After 1978, his successor DENG Xiaoping and other leaders focused on market-oriented economic development and by 2000 output had quadrupled. For much of the population, living standards have improved dramatically and the room for personal choice has expanded, yet political controls remain tight.
May 11th 2008Asia » China » Shandong » Qingdao China has a history of being forced to conceed certain areas of its land to colonial powers. Although many may be aware of British, French, and Japanese territories, I was suprised to learn that the ... 10 photos[full story]
May 10th 2008Asia » China » Shandong » Tai Shan Although I didn't get a chance to climb Mt. Fuji, I knew there would be other mountain climbing opportunities on my trip. I wouldn't have to wait very long and a week into China, I found myself climb ... 12 photos[full story]
April 12th 2008Asia » China » Shandong Last week I gave a speech entitled: "The End of Loose Money: Subprime, The Credit Crunch and What it Means for China." I gave the obvious, yet necessary disclaimer before the speech that I am not an ... 18 photos[full story]
April 3rd 2008Asia » China » Shandong » Qingdao Went to Qingdao for a weekend trip to see some ocean and get away from the smog and bustle of Dongying. The weather turned out to be pretty nice. Qingdao is famous for its beer and beaches, the form ... 30 photos[full story]
March 12th 2008Asia » China » Shandong The pictures from this entry cover the last stop on the winter break tour in Beijing up to the first plunge back into teaching for semester number two. My time in Beijing was well spent, getting a he ... 42 photos[full story]
March 20th 2008Asia » China » Shandong » Qingdao Though it just like dreaming,my friend who hasn’t seen for many show up again!Ha ha.Though Portia just spent 2days in Qingdao,we had a lot of wonderful time!I felt uncertain and unconfident when ... [full story]
August 7th 2007Asia » China » Shandong » Ji'Nan As you may have gathered from my last blog entry, it's really hot and humid in the summer in Jinan. My days are spent in front of a fan and/or air-conditioning, watching DVDs of Scrubs and Lost and F ... [full story]
January 9th 2008Asia » China » Shandong » Qingdao We finally set out on our travels to Japan on 9th after having packed up house in Tai’an and sent everything we didn’t need for travelling on to Nanjing. (This involved quite an involved a ... 9 photos[full story]
July 20th 2007Asia » China » Shandong » Ji'Nan Summer is in full blast here in Jinan, and it's hot, hot, hot! They say it's not the heat, it's the humidity, and that goes double in Jinan. I am dripping with sweat most days, and it's quite uncomf ... [full story]
January 17th 2008Asia » China » Shandong » Ji'Nan Winter is here, in full effect. Jinan is cold and dry, and everyone is wearing thermals these days! We've had our first snowfalls, mainly light flurries that are easily swept away off the sidewalks ... [full story]
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