Murder in the Hood

Murders in the news are as common as the weather report, and are rarely read with any greater attention. It is not often that they touch your life in some way, even if just remotely. Unfortunately, such is not the case with Suzhou’s most recent homicide, as it happened only a couple hundred metres from …

My ChinaTravel.net Feature on Suzhou

A while back I was approached by the fine folks at ChinaTravel.net, an English-language travel site about China that is “editorially independent” but strongly affiliated with Ctrip.com — one of China’s largest online travel booking Web sites. The site’s editors wanted me to put together a summary article on “my Suzhou”, and as of last …

In Sanya – Final Thoughts

Alright, I could pretend like the week and a half since we returned from Sanya was used to properly reflect on the vacation before I post final thoughts about China’s only tropical destination. But that would be a lie. Every time I go on vacation I think to myself, “Hey, why the hell am I …

In Sanya – Da Dong Hai Sucks

As I mentioned in my previous post, Mags and I are down in Sanya for a vacation and to celebrate our 2nd anniversary. Yesterday we finally managed to get off our asses and go further than the beach across the road. We headed down to Da Dong Hai – a beach we had heard was …

In Sanya – Holiday… celebrate…

There’s something entirely appealing about blogging while looking out over a sunny palm-lined beach and the sea beyond. It has a quality I could definitely get used to. Mags and I are down in Sanya, Hainan, for a week-long sun and fun vacation to celebrate our second anniversary. Long-time readers will remember that we got …

‘Best Band in Beijing’ coming to Suzhou

Just got word that Woodie Alan, the band City Weekend calls the “Best Band in Beijing”, is coming to Suzhou for a one show performance on Friday night. The show’s taking place at J&J Restaurant (No.5, Block 11, Horizon Resort II, SIP) and runs from 9 until 11. Tickets will set you back 60 RMB …

A Son of Dalian

I’ve just returned from 5 days offline and out of Suzhou – two things I’m generally quite adverse to subjecting myself to. It was rather refreshing. As the last time I got my visa in Suzhou the woman told us in no uncertain terms not to come back, Mags and I knew we’d be heading …

A weekend in Hangzhou

Last weekend Maggie and I finally got down to Hangzhou. We’d been meaning to visit the place (a mere 2 hour bus ride from Suzhou) since moving here two years ago, but it always seemed to fall by the wayside. With work keeping us both insanely busy, it’s been a little too easy to forget …