Right now, about 1/6 of Chinese are travelling – on their way home to spend the Spring Festival – the Chinese New Year with their families. This has to be the largest seasonal migration in the world. The majority of those people are nongmin gong, peasant workers or migrant workers, those originally from the countryside… Continue reading Migrant Workers Going Home

Edition: UK Sign inMobile About us Today’s paper Subscribe The GuardianComment is freeUser commentsWeb News Sport Comment Culture Business Money Life & style Travel Environment TV Data Video Mobile Offers Jobs Comment is free China’s Foxconn workers: from suicide threats to a trade union? The workers who come to the city to find work making… Continue reading Sweatshop Revolts – my op-ed piece in the Gurardian

Over the Christmas holiday, I took my younger daughter Kirsty to Burma (Myanmar), where I visited 11 years ago. Last time, we took the classic route: Rangoon, Mandalay and Bagan. This time, I added Inle Lake and the beach but skipped Mandalay, which I found not quite as romantic as Kiplings’ poems. (lovely line though,… Continue reading 8 January, 2012 18:26

Just before Christmas, I was interviewed by the BBC about Zhang Yimou’s new film The Flowers of the War about 13 prostitutes scarifying themselves to save the lives of 13 girls from a convent. The interview was partly my review of the film partly and partly my answer to their question if this is a… Continue reading Zhang Yimou’s new film The Flowers of the War