FreeReigner

Finally. The entry I've been waiting months to write. Since learning to speak Chinese has trumped every single option and defeated every other desire of mine since I stepped off the plane in Shanghai months ago, I could write a book about my experience on the subject. One thing that I can very proudly say is that when I boldly stated I wanted to learn Chinese, I followed through. It would have been so easy to give up and write it off to a useless quest. But all year, I've have summoned an inner nerd I never knew existed (the likes of which would have landed me straight A's in school) and believe it or not I, Mark Keelin Wilson, can speak Chinese. I guess once I understood the mindset needed to learn Chinese and met ... read more

China, themselves, chicken feet, spitting, English t-shirts, traveling to Tibet (does not apply to Tibetan people), bicycles, arm sleeve protectors, karaoke, talking on the phone really loudly, disobeying traffic laws, giving toasts, squatting, drinking warm water, sex boots, cigarettes, baijiu 白酒, 'Hey Jude' and 'Hotel California, hating the Japanese, working, saying 'I'm fine thanks and you?', construction sites, Da Shan 大山, short hair, the Olympics, jewish people, basketball, red hats, linguistic puns, tea, claiming their province has the best spicy food, burning coal, pop music, skin whitening cream, haggling, long pinky-nails, 'hello kitty' phone charms, tea, the Houston Rockets, oily food, atheism, MSN & QQ, Mickey Mouse, 4-character cheng yu 成语, large tour groups, chanting slogans, huge banners on the street, jade, whiskey & green tea, massages (wi... read more

Chapter I - in which Mark Learns that All Benders Must Eventually Come to an End With Chengdu, Beijing and Hong Kong benders firmly behind me and a two week jaunt in Yunnan to come, a detox was in order. And let me tell you, there is no better Betty Ford Clinic than 2 weeks of reading Jules Verne while perched on Himalayan mountain top (which I guess has influenced not only my China experience but also my writing style). Up first was Kunming. If I thought Chengdu was a backwater capital, Kunming took it to a whole 'nother level. It's really more of a urban town, set at the base of the mountains than anything resembling Gotham. Yunnan province is where China meets Tibet, meets Southeast Asia and is filled with ethnic minorities and cultural ... read more

China takes the thunder bucket to a whole new level. The thunder arrived so long ago (and has lingered so long, having never been flushed down) that all you can do is get in and out as fast as you can. Just heeding the basic call of nature can be fickle business (pun intended) in China. Some of the bathrooms I've used in China make the Ole' 3 Snow Hill St Thunder Closet look like luxurious spa. By far the worst I've ever encountered have been in Tibet, which almost lets you forgive the Han invasion as long as they just provide some proper shitters for these poor people. The scary part is that I'm not even really phased by it any more! God knows where that 3 mao you pay per use goes, cause it's ... read more

I know this is kind of cheating, but this article is a must read for anyone curious about China's newfound economic prowess. It helps to answer China's paradox of 'just how a repressive communist country can become the most dominant economic force in the world?' that has everyone scratching their heads. It's a long read sure, but well worth the time as this guy is a much better writer than I... http://www.american.com/archive/2007/november-december-magazine-contents/the-china-model ... read more