Category Archives: blog

My Articles in Hops Magazine

  In 2011 I had the opportunity to write two articles for the fall issue of Hops Magazine, an English-language quarterly serving mainly the residents of Shanghai and Beijing. Hops describes itself as “the only magazine in China dedicated exclusively to beer … Continue reading

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Ken Jennings’ “Maphead”

It’s been a little while since I’ve written anything on this blog. However, I feel compelled to write something geography related after finishing Ken Jennings’ new book “Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks.” Yes, it’s that Ken … Continue reading

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Chinese Carousel of Progress

The Australian broadcasters SBS released a report of the purported Chinese real estate bubble. Throughout several parts of China, ghost towns and malls are cropping up. They aren’t like American ghost towns, but rather a government-backed attempt at rapid development … Continue reading

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New site: Homebrew Shanghai

  So, I started a new website: homebrewshanghai.com. Modeled after Rob Titley’s Homebrew Korea, I plan to create the same sort of community that helped me out during the trial-and-error periods of my own homebrewing in Korea. So far the … Continue reading

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Marriage Market in People’s Park

So here’s a cultural oddity: Every weekend in People’s Park hundreds of families come together and create a real-world dating site. Traditionally, from what I’ve read, it’s a parent’s job to find a suitable spouse for a child. And with the … Continue reading

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Ordering Beef and Getting Pork

So if there’s one GIANT systemic problem preventing China from becoming a fully industrialized first-world country, its the problems with food safety. If you haven’t done so already, check out the Al-Jazeera report on fake beef. Watched it? OK, good…Honestly, … Continue reading

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Ulysses S. Grant Wine — in China

It appears Barack Obama isn’t the only president having his image misappropriated by businesses in China. Profiteers have since decided being “all about the Benjamins” was too 1999. It’s now time to use a different person on American currency to represent … Continue reading

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