A short, silly essay.
什么是苹果？按照词典，苹果的定义是：“落叶乔木，叶子椭圆形，花白色带有红晕。果实圆形，味甜或略酸，是普通水果”。我平时对《现代汉语词典》的定义没有什么不同意的，但在这种情况下，我必须表示我不满的感觉。词典的编者哪儿有权利把这么美妙的水果称为“普通”水果？大概是因为编者没有意识到这个小水果跟我们“普通人类”有多么长的历史，多么强的关系。
什么是苹果？当然是词典所说的，但除此之外它也是人类最古老的同伴之一。据西方的传说，第一个人吃的苹果给他怎么分别好和坏的知识，但也是人类从人间乐园放逐的原因。这样一来，苹果给我们带来了辛苦的生活，但也使我们凌驾于真正的“普通”动物之上。知识是苹果赋予我们的大负担和大赠礼。
什么是苹果？是使我们健康的一种食品。苹果不但是世界最流行的水果之一，而且是富于营养的食品。苹果有几百个种类，有甜的，有酸的，一个人无论有什么偏激，都能找到适合他口味的苹果。由于苹果的普遍性，苹果平时不是特别贵的，每个人都买得起苹果。可以说苹果是“大众之食”。
什么是苹果？实际上，我也不敢妄下评论。但我的感觉是苹果既然赋予我们那么多利益，我们都应该以更理解它重要性的角度回报它所给予人类的。什么是苹果？苹果就是人类的老朋友。

From Talk Talk China comes a brilliant new concept: the Cycle of Funk.

For those interested in bikes, China, and the human side of global business, this travelogue of a trip to Beijing is a fun read. The traveller is the designer of the Stokemonkey, a tremendously nifty electric assist gadget.

Imagethief today links to a PBS documentary, “The Tank Man,” which makes for interesting watching. I’d like to respond, for those of you who might be reading.
The China that I see every day is worlds away from the China shown in the film. You could put this down to my living the sheltered life […]

An early morning ride to the Summer Palace was marred by the remnants of the worst sandstorm I’ve seen in a year and half. I felt particular sympathy for the men engaged in the largely futile task of sweeping sand off the streets with large brooms. Their work succeeded in liberating the sand for a […]

I’ve seen photos of bicycle commutes from around the world, and felt that it was time to make my contribution. My commute is a short one — 15 minutes each way on a normal day. The pollution today was terrible, so I decided to take it very slowly. That had the advantage of making it […]

As seen yesterday morning under “Current Conditions” on Weather Underground’s Beijing forecast:

As of this posting, the Light Rain has left us, but the Smoke remains.

If second-tier Asian tourist attractions are sometimes creepy and forlorn, China’s contributions excel in creating a mood of melancholy creakiness. I think I first became aware of this when visiting the original site of the Harbin Ice Festival, a small park in the city centre. The bulk of the festival has moved across the river […]

I was delighted to read on Imagethief today that China is imposing a 5% consumption tax on disposable chopsticks and other products. This delight stems from several factors, not the least of which is that other people read the China Daily so I don’t have to. I wholeheartedly support the Chinese government’s new taxes, which […]

For a bit of extracurricular reading practice, I recently bought a Chinese copy of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. It is a faithful translation of the original, with a few notable exceptions. Of course, “Hey, you sass that hoopy Ford Prefect? There’s a frood who really knows where his towel is,” […]