Author: Amanda R

We broke the news on Facebook a couple of weeks ago about the newest addition to our family, but I thought I would make a formal introduction here as we hadn’t actually released her name yet. This is Lady Darcy Fluffington. She is a Persian from the Sky Animation Mall. She likes feathers, toes, and chasing Read More

I mentioned over the weekend that there had been no news or updates regarding Cao Ruyi since June. I was browsing the Mayor’s Mailbox today, though, and saw this letter written to the mayor about her. I have no idea who the original author is (I promise it wasn’t me), but the author actually got Read More

China is constantly a land of contradictions, and I think no place in China exemplifies this more than Hunan. Hunan is home to the earliest forms of civilization in China. It has always been one of the poorest provinces in China. It is the location of many of the stories in the Romance of the Read More

Recently, I wrote about the growing interest in old photos from China. Thanks to my friend Renalto, I was pointed to this amazing photo stream. Ralph Repo (I don’t really know anything about him) has put together an amazing collection of photographs and has restored them immaculate clarity. There are too many to post here, Read More

This week we took a trip to Hong Kong for Zoe’s first trip to the island and everyone’s first trip to HK Disneyland! There were ups and downs, rain and shine, but overall we had a good time. Day 1 – Trains, Subways, Bureaucracy, and Typhoons The day started out pretty good. We got to the Read More

In an effort to make Changsha more impressive on a national scale, the city poors thousands of RMB every week into a spectacular firework show over Orange Island on the Xiangjiang river. We have lived in Changsha for almost a year and had never made it out to see the show before last week. Zoe Read More

This weekend was the 2012 Cosplay Expo here in Changsha at the San He Hotel Exhibition Center. Apparently this is an annual event held just after the kids get out of school for the summer. But we also found out that Hunan University had a Cosplay Convention at the end of April, and that is Read More

I was just lamenting how all the foreigners here in China have been on their best behavior lately and I was not able to make any additions to my Ugly Foreigner series. But we now have our first New Zealander to add to this exclusive group. Apparently, the man (we only have his surname of Phillips), Read More

I personally, feel the effects of Obama’s Affordable Healthcare Act. In 2008, I was diagnosed with endometriosis and was denied coverage by my insurance company even though I purchased insurance before I was diagnosed. Thankfully, the hospital I used for my $12,000 operation had a privately funded program to help low-income families pay their medical Read More

Xinhua News Network, the offical news outlet for China’s government, announced late last night that one offical has been fired for his role in the forced abortion of Feng Jianmei’s 7-month old fetus. However, the article is contradictory in its explanation as to what lead up to that horrible event. The article states that “there Read More