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,” […]

Winter in Beijing is deceptively cold. An absolute minimum of about -10 Celsius may not sound too bad to true cold-weather veterans, but it discounts the effect of the gale-force Siberian winds I encounter riding to and from my university; by some quirk of meteorology, I run into headwinds in both directions. I’m not sure […]

On Chinese New Year’s Eve, I was fortunate to be invited to stay at the home of a Chinese friend of mine in Eastern Beijing. In preparation for the holiday, his family had bought a veritable arsenal of fireworks, which we all proceeded to set alight with little regard for personal safety. I shot two […]

I’ve been travelling for most of the last month and a half (pictures and such will most likely follow), but am now back in my Beijing apartment where my crazy neighbour was shouting even more than usual last night. In addition to the standard ranting and cussing at someone who’s not there, she repeatedly shouted […]