CHINA

Country Overview:

“Love the food, hate the government”

I arrived in China in May 2013 and left August 2020. I taught English for awhile, did my master’s of politics & foreign policy at Tsinghua University, worked for a year at China Today, and then two years at Xinhua News Agency. I spent most of my time in Beijing, but also traveled to Shanghai, Wuhan, Inner Mongolia, Shenzhen, Panjin, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Qingdao, Xi’an, Sanya, Macau, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.


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Sichuan Food

This is a Sichuan ‘dry’ type of hot pot called "Malaxiangguo" where all the ingredients are cooked together and served in a big bowl. 

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May Fourth Square - Qingdao, China

May Fourth Square is a large public square in Qingdao’s central business district. Named after the nationwide protest May Fourth Movement that started in Qingdao, the square is best recognized by the large "May Wind" sculpture near the seaside.

The May Fourth Movement was an anti-imperialist, cultural, and political movement which grew out of student participants in Beijing on May 4, 1919. They protested against the Chinese government's weak responses to the stipulations of the Treaty of Versailles, especially it allowing Japan to receive territories in Shandong, which had been surrendered by Germany after the Siege of Tsingtao in 1914. The May 4th Movement influenced the Chinese delegation not to sign the Treaty of Versailles.

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Tsingtao Beer Museum - Qingdao, China

Qingdao is a major city in the east of Shandong Province on China's Yellow Sea coast. As of 2014, Qingdao had a population of 9,046,200.

Tsingtao Beer was introduced to the United States in 1972, and soon became the top-selling Chinese beer in the U.S. market. It was founded in 1903 by German settlers in Qingdao. Its logo displays an image of Zhan Qiao, a pier on Qingdao's southern shore. Tsingtao Brewery is the second largest brewery in China.

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Here Then Gone - a short story

Just finished my first short story, “Here Then Gone”, about a microchip in the future that automatically ends a person’s life when they turn 75 years old. You can download it for free here

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