China

Buying a smartphone in China: Agony and Ecstasy

My new phone will be amazing.

My new phone will change my life.

My new phone will be my newest and closest friend.

Scaling the Firewall

Circumventing China’s Censors

Eleventh Dispatch 5.4.15

Smoke rolls in billows over the street. Chickens squawk in what must be the poultry equivalent of hacking coughs as their wire mesh hutches are enveloped in the greasy black plume. Ash falls from the concrete grey sky, which hangs oppressively low through the foul-tasting air. Small…

Tenth Dispatch 24.7.14

It’s been nearly two months since my last weekly dispatch. In reading over it the similiarity of its contents to basically everything in my head and in my weekly routine are striking. Basically everything that was happening two months ago is what is happening now, but without a bike trip…

Ninth Dispatch 17.6.14

Hello dear readers,

It’s been two weeks since I got from my first bike trip in China, and I sent out the last mammoth dispatch. I’d like to say I missed last week because there was nothing happening to write about, that things were to boring for even me to…

Eighth Dispatch 5.6.14

The streets are sodden, drains working overtime have emptied most of the bigger puddles but it’s still slick and slidey. When it gets rainy eyesight and situational awareness seem to suffer around these parts. Early morning starts for long weekend shifts are not really improved by…

Seventh Dispatch 7.5.14

Hello Readers,

All is well here in China. In fact if you’ve been reading some news stories then you’ll know things are looking quite well indeed for China. The government here has just enacted some very strict anti-pollution laws, and funded environmental…

Sixth Dispatch 29.4.14

Hello dear readers,

It is a beautiful day here in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province. The second of a pair, they have been welcome relief. Earlier this week I experienced one of the few rainstorms I’ve yet seen here. It doesn’t rain here, instead the skies open, the…

Fifth Dispatch 18.4.14

Hello all,

It’s been closer to two weeks than one. This is because there was a change to my schedule this week. It’s been normal to have experiences during the week that I then compile and drizzle with word stew on my days off. I hadn’t had those experiences this…

Fourth Dispatch 4.2.14

Hello dear readers,

Unfortunately this dispatch must begin on a grim note. There has been an accident here, or rather I should say I have had an accident. An incident has occurred in which I accidentally hit something on my electric trike. It was a small, spotted…