A bewildering chaos of movements, chanting and excitement. That was my impression when Helen and I arrived early this afternoon at Tahrir Square in central Cairo. And we arrived to the scene of revolution in style: on a horse cart! Helen, a British poet and my host in Cairo, and I, were walking from the… Continue reading witnessing the history in the making at Tahrir Square in Cairo

A bewildering chaos of movements, chanting and excitement. That was my impression when Helen and I arrived early this afternoon at Tahrir Square in central Cairo. And we arrived to the scene of revolution in style: on a horse cart! Helen, a British poet and my host in Cairo, and I, were walking from the… Continue reading Witnessing history in the making at Tahrir Square, Cario

Kim Vernon, an Australian artist, and his wife and their young son, are the only Western family living in our neighborhood Jiuxianqiao Village, which is mostly inhabited by migrant workers. Kim’s studio is located inside the same courtyard where I live (settled here happily over two years ago). When he is not caring for his… Continue reading abstract painting with Chinese characteristics

After going through a series of unsatisfying China related novels, it was a refreshing delight to read Karen Ma’s debut novel Excessive Luggage about two sisters growing up in two different worlds, one in Communist China’s poor and strictly controlled society and the other in free and affluent Hong Kong and Japan. After China opens… Continue reading my review of Karen Ma’s debut novel Excessive Luggage

Having lived for 17 years, on and off, in Beijing, are there still new ways to explore Beijing? Yes, one of them is from the sidecar of a vintage motorbike. At a charity ball in the end of last year, I won a voucher for a two hour motorbike ride for two people provided by… Continue reading Explore Beijing in Style – from the Sideway view of a Sidecar

in One Year Later 5 min read From China to NYC, it’s night and day for Chen Guangcheng A year ago one of China’s most famous dissidents escaped for a new life in America. Now he faces a different kind of rejection. A year ago, one of China’s most famous dissidents escaped for a new… Continue reading the full version of the Chen story

in One Year Later 5 min read From China to NYC, it’s night and day for Chen Guangcheng A year ago one of China’s most famous dissidents escaped for a new life in America. Now he faces a different kind of rejection. A year ago, one of China’s most famous dissidents escaped for a new… Continue reading my piece on Chen about his dramatic changes in the past year

A Heart For Freedom by Chai Ling Recently a friend recommended me the memoir by Chai Ling, one of the key student leaders at Tiananmen back in 1989. I read keenly it. As someone participated in the movement, even though I wasn’t in Beijing, I was very interested in the subject and a memoir told… Continue reading my review of a book by a student leader in 1989

The anniversary again. There isn’t total silence as people might think. see attached a picture I received from my WeeChat – several of similar pix are circulating on weibo and WeeChat. also see below an excellent article in scmp. The day that changed everything – June 4, 1989 Purged officials and intellectuals recall devastating effect… Continue reading 24th anniversary of ‘June 4’