Drive cars from the city
2010-04-14 08:27:06
Drivers are fuming about the hikes in downtown parking fees introduced on April 1 but, instead of parking their gas-guzzlers at home and taking public transport, which was what the people who introduced the fees hoped would happen, many motorists are thinking outside the box and looking for new parking possibilities.
What's in the word laowai?
2010-04-13 08:22:53
Laowai is one of the first words that Western people learn if they're spending time in China, especially if they spend a lot of time socializing with Chinese people.
Web networking spins new take on romance
2010-04-13 08:22:53
It started when he added her as a friend on Renren, a Chinese version of Facebook. They began visiting each other's home pages and leaving each other messages. Later, virtual gifts were sent and a romantic relationship was born "online". A typical romance in cyberspace.
For whom the bell tolls
2010-04-13 08:22:53
Following Beijing's ongoing facelift is easy, it seems that almost a quarter of all stories to be found in the capital's English press are in some way related to the city's "elixir of youth" campaign, whether they concern demolitions of substandard housing or elderly evictions from the CBD.
A knockout for the knockoffs?
2010-04-12 08:22:18
Another cherished Beijing institution is in danger of being eliminated. This time, it's a tradition enjoyed by Chinese and foreign visitors alike.
Why not talk to strangers?
2010-04-09 08:03:07
An old friend of mine told me that an unpleasant thing happened to her this week at a club in Sanlitun. As she waited alone for friends she sensed that a man at another table was staring at her.
Dig deeper to find male appeal
2010-04-09 08:03:07
Nowadays, there are plenty of single women over 30 in China; at any big Chinese meal there will be at least one. The irony lies in the fact that many of these women are among the very best of the sex.
Invisible Western women
2010-04-09 08:03:07
Tonight after 10 o'clock, Beijing's bars and club will come to life, celebrating the official start of the weekend once again. The lighting will be ambient, the music beating a stimulating tempo, and, with every glass of liquid courage imbibed, the night owls will start prowling. Guys will be hitting on girls, girls will be hitting on guys, and all the permutations in between.
Unbuckled dangers
2010-04-08 08:03:53
Horn blaring, another car whooshed past as my driver wove through traffic, our car rushing down the highway like a spinning top. Stiff with fear, I scrounged through the backseat looking for a seatbelt.
Blind masseur rubbed me up the wrong way
2010-04-08 08:03:53
I like massages. I find them relaxing and a great form of relief for the lower back pain I occasionally suffer from.
Confessions of a gossip monger
2010-04-08 08:03:53
Thanks to the weeklong Spring Festival vacation, when even the most dedicated workaholics stayed at home with their families, I came to realize one thing I can't live without - juicy, but stupid celebrity gossip magazines.
April is the kindest month
2010-04-07 08:11:08
T . S. Eliot's bleak poetic meditation on modernity, The Wasteland, begins by flatly stating "April is the cruelest month." Eliot clearly never visited Beijing during April.