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My Caucasus Adventure Finally, this will be my last dispatch from the Caucasus. I hesitated to use the world ‘adventure’, because it suggests something daring and even dangerous. But there’s nothing really dangerous about travelling in Georgia and Armenia. Sure, these are far-flung places, off the beaten tracks, and in close proximity to Russia. I… Continue reading My Caucasus adventure

Stalin’s Underground Printing Workshop In Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, there was an underground printing workshop. In those inter-connected underground tunnels, Stalin and his revolutionary colleagues printed revolutionary magazines and pamphlets, calling to overthrown the Tsar. I heard about this place from my friend Wei. He, in turned, had read about it in a Chinese… Continue reading Stalins underground printing workshop

https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3184342/top-censorship-chinese-writers-now-have-contend-attacks-patriotic Here’s the link to my latest oped about the worrying trend of the so-called ‘patriotic trolls’ attacking writers. Patriotism has become a cheapened weapon in China. If you don’t like your opponent, you accuse them as ‘pro-west’ or even ‘hanjian’ – traitor! I worry about the literary scene in China.

Stalin’s Museum In his Hometown Funny that I should write a dispatch from Georgia one week after I have returned home. While travelling, I was too busy exploring and meeting all sorts of interesting people that I hardly had time to write any FB posts. But some of those experiences/stories are worth-telling. In any case,… Continue reading 7 July, 2022 20:14

Talking about Armenia, one has to mention the Armenia Genocide, which was the systematic destruction of the Armenia people and their identity by the Ottoman Empire during the First World War, including the forced deportation and massacres. On my last day in the country, I visited the Armenia Genocide Memorial and Museum on the northern… Continue reading Armenia genocide