Book Review – The Incarnations by Susan Barker

When I was at the HK Book Fair a couple of weeks ago, I picked up a copy of Susan Barker’s The Incarnations. The description reads: Beijing, 2008, the Olympics are coming, but as taxi driver Wang circles the city’s congested streets, he feels barely alive. His daily grind is suddenly interrupted when he finds Read More

Give the Dog a Bone – Let Guide Dogs in China Help the Visually Impaired!

Last week, when Beijing announced that seeing eye dogs would be allowed on the Beijing metro, my first thought wasn’t “wow, this is a great move on Beijing’s part.” Instead, my first thought was “seeing eye dogs weren’t already allowed on Beijing subways?” followed by “seeing eye dogs aren’t already allowed on all of China’s Read More

Care for comfort women begins at home

HARDLY a week goes by that the Chinese Government does not criticize the Japanese Government for refusing to acknowledge and apologize for its crimes in China during World War II. Since 2015 marks the 70th anniversary of the end of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War, the outcry against Japan and calls to remember the Rape of Read More

Two Americans in China in Chinatown

One of the main reasons we wanted to visit San Francisco was to visit Chinatown. I know, we live in China and we wanted to go to Chinatown? Why not? We love Chinese people and Chinese culture no matter where in the world it is, and we thought it would be interesting to learn more Read More

Two Americans in China in San Francisco

Ack! I can’t believe how long it has been since I last posted! I planned on doing posts while I was on vacation, but time just got away from me and the Internet at my in-laws’ house was terrible, so I hardly spent any time online. Anyway, here is how we spent our Chinese New Read More

China – Not As Safe As You Think

In the past, when people have asked me “is China safe?” I have answered “yes.” And most people would agree. In fact, if you Google “is China safe?” you will find plenty of forums that tout the safety of China, even for women. Yet I have been seeing more and more incidents of Western women Read More

An Open Letter to Victoria Thompson, Author of the Gaslight Mystery Series

Dear Ms. Thompson, Every day, women are told that they can only ever be truly happy if they give birth to a child. It is everywhere – from our own mothers, to politicians, to religious leaders, to books, movies, and TV shows. No matter what else a woman has in her life, no matter how Read More

I Am Not Charlie

Last week, the opinion page editor sent me an opinion article and asked me “should we print this?” I thought it was a strange request since what the paper does and doesn’t print isn’t up to me. However, when I discovered that the article was basically about how Americans are hypocritical in how they use Read More

Conversations on Adoption in China

While walking to the subway with two of my coworkers yesterday, I had the following conversation: Sarah: Why do you live in China instead of Thailand? Me: Well, my husband and I are planning on adopting here in China. Sarah: Oh, is that very difficult for foreigners? Me: Yes. It is very difficult. It takes Read More

Top 10 Posts of 2014

Well, I for one am happy to see the back of 2014. As much as I love living in Shenzhen, it is so much better than living in Changsha, 2014 was one nightmare of a  year. But the blog and my writing career are doing much better, which is awesome. So, in case you missed Read More