My grandmother passed away last month in Shenyang. She was 92. Her health had been deteriorating steadily for the last five years, and as far as deaths go, hers was a peaceful one. All her loved ones managed to visit her in her last month of consciousness, and she passed away in her sleep –… Continue reading On Earth as it is in Heaven
Tag: social
Saving Face
One of the things you hear the most about China is that people are obsessed with “face”. I’ve always thought this was a bit Orientalist, since it suggests that we (i.e. Chinese) are only concerned with superficial things. But sometimes, “face”, understood a strange intangible honour system, shows up in unexpected places in China. There… Continue reading Saving Face
The Great Firewall and the Political Power of Porn
“But how will you do research?” This was one of the most common questions I got before going to Beijing. Research in a think-tank requires having access to a large range of sources, much of it political. Yet a lot of popular sources remain blocked in China by the Great Firewall – Google, the BBC,… Continue reading The Great Firewall and the Political Power of Porn