March 05, 2013

Postcards from the National People's Congress

December 18, 2012

China, school violence and official reaction

I wrote yesterday about growing questions in China about the differences between the U.S. reaction to the tragedy in Newtown and that of the tragedy in Henan Province, where, on the same say as the shooting in Connecticut, a man stabbed and slashed 23 students at a primary school. (All survived in Henan, where the weapon was a knife, not an AR-15.)

As a commentary piece in the state-controlled Global Times noted: “The Chinese public has focused on the slow official response and the level of social reflection. Many are furious that while the Americans have started mourning nationwide, the Chinese appear insensitive to the Henan case.”

"Xinyang Daily, an official newspaper of the Communist Party of China Xinyang municipal committee, apologized on Tuesday on its front page for a report praising educational achievements after a knifeman's attack on a school in the city.

Twenty-three students were injured during the incident on Friday at an elementary school in Guangshan county of Xinyang city in Central China's Henan province.

Most of the students sustained head injuries or cuts to their fingers or ears, and required immediate surgery.

Two days later, Xinyang Daily published a report on its front page titled 'Guangshan: striving to build sound education satisfying people's needs.'

'Great achievements have been made in Guangshan's education sector,' the report said. 'Education has become a banner, a window and a name card of the county.'

The report has aroused massive criticism in Chinese cyberspace, with critics calling the journalists insensitive."

The full story can be found by clicking here and is worth a look.

December 14, 2012

Postcard from a snowy Beijing

The smell of roasting sweet potatoes in a city covered with snow put me in the mood to take a detour on my walk to work today  ...

November 14, 2012

Postcards from the closing ceremony of the 18th Party Congress

November 07, 2012

Postcard from Tiananmen Square during the 18th Party Congress

September 18, 2012

Postcard from demonstration at the Japanese Embassy in Beijing

September 11, 2012

Postcard from the road

One of my favorite things about travel in China: The food ...

July 19, 2012

Read all about it!

The front page of China Daily today: One huge Louis Vuitton ad.

A Reuters story on the new store has some good background on the opening:

The French luxury brand, a unit of LVMH, is set to open its largest China store in Shanghai on Saturday, complete with a gilded spiral staircase and an invitation-only private floor where big spenders can get their hair done while dreaming up designs for custom bags.

UPDATE: Very top of the page didn't make that photo. For the record, it's here:

June 28, 2012

Not what I was looking for at this night market in China

But the presentation caught my eye. 

June 14, 2012

Pandas in transition

A couple quick snapshots from the road