For about two decades straight, day-and-night, 24/7, China has been the world's construction ground, with architectural marvels and giant infrastructure springing up at a swift rate and on an enormous scale. The Beijing Olympics set some ungodly tight deadlines on a few of these projects, but with sheer drive, massive manpower, capital investment, and the directive planning … [Read more...] about Recently completed mega-construction projects in China
Environment
Beijing Olympics a learning experience for all involved
It is said that the Beijing Olympics was a big draw, perhaps proving the adage that no publicity is bad publicity. Did the worldwide protests before the Olympics ironically serve as a big advertisement for the Beijing Olympics? And now that a record number of people have watched the Olympics, what have they learned about China? … [Read more...] about Beijing Olympics a learning experience for all involved
Snapshots from Beijing
I've been in Beijing for a little over a week. While Western media seems mostly intent on investigating nail-houses and Internet access in the Olympic media center, I've been playing tourist. But because I've been to Beijing numerous times, no pictures of the Great Wall or Forbidden Palace. Here are a few stories from every-day life that caught my eye: First, the first day … [Read more...] about Snapshots from Beijing
"Direct" flights commence between Taiwan and mainland
Today, without too much fuss, regular direct flights between mainland China and Taiwan began, fulfilling a campaign pledge of Ma Yingjiu. The flights run Friday-to-Monday between Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Xiamen, Guangzhou and Taipei. As you can see from the maps (from Sina & Chinanews) below, all flights still route near Hong Kong airspace so they are "direct" only in … [Read more...] about "Direct" flights commence between Taiwan and mainland
Dalai Lama tries speaking to the Chinese
If there's one thing we've consistently criticized here, it's that the Dalai Lama (and "clique") has largely failed to reach out to the Chinese people directly. For every interview he provides to the Chinese-language press, it seems he's done fifty for foreign language press. And even when he makes an attempt to speak to the Chinese (as with an open letter released earlier this … [Read more...] about Dalai Lama tries speaking to the Chinese