January 2007 - Ryan McLaughlin

Movin’ and Shakin’

I’m moving apartments tomorrow. This may seem a little sudden, given my habit of discussing virtually every small thing that happens in my life on here. And well, it is sudden. Maggie and I have been considering getting a better apartment since I visited a friend’s place in town for a BBQ back in September. …

January 29, 2007

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Year Of The Pig: China Bans Pig Images In Ads

As some may know, Spring Festival is only a couple weeks away (February 18th is day one). It may also be known to you that this coming new year is the Year of the Pig according to the Chinese zodiac. Well, in weird news of the day – China bans pigs from Year of the …

January 27, 2007

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Stereotypewriter: Welcome to the ‘Get With A Chinese’ Club

It’s an interesting statistic that my friends in China have changed over the two years I’ve been here from those that are just visiting to those that are here and have serious Chinese relationships (read that how you will – wife, girlfriend, etc.). It raises an interesting question about whether there is any other reason …

January 27, 2007

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Mao E’Gao

Apparently there’s an “artistic” (expect a lot of bunny-eared quotes in this post) revolution taking over the Chinese Internet – and I’ve indirectly been a) promoting it, and b) adding to it. Crap. TaiTai over at Sinocidal pointed me to a horribly written piece of “journalism” from Xinhua (big surprise) that explains the “new art …

January 25, 2007

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Shan Tang Street – A Walk Through Suzhou’s Past

Getting out and taking photos has been rare for me lately, as has going to see anything worth taking photos of. However, a couple days ago Maggie said she wanted to go to a massive wedding dress district up by Tiger Hill here in Suzhou. Tiger Hill is a rather large temple complex that is …

January 22, 2007

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Road To Wedlock Part III: The Stag & Doe

I’m beat. Not bested, but completely exhausted. I’ve spent most of the day, technically most of the month, arranging flights and hotels for my family’s visit next month. Today marks the 30-day count-down until Maggie and I officially become husband and wife (though we’ve been doing a trial run since getting the license in December). …

January 17, 2007

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MyChinaStart.com: A Good Place To Start

I was first introduced to MyChinaStart.com about a month ago by my buddy fiLi (his Chinalyst blog aggregator was interviewed on MyChinaStart). Then, today I heard from (the recently repatriated) Meg at Violet Eclipse that there was a PayPerPost opportunity related to it. The opportunity is done, so I wont get the offered $5.50 for …

January 14, 2007

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Linktastic IV

Time for another edition of Linktastic. It’s tougher and tougher to list here links I think are great, when I just do that at the newly moved and renovated Hao Hao Report. However, I’ve got a couple things I think are worth checking out (and of course my usual updates about what I’ve been writing …

January 12, 2007

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Happy 2nd Chinaversary ä¸¤å‘¨å¹´å¿«ä¹

Hey, look at that… I’ve been here two years. And to reminisce… check out an archived version of this site in its formative days over at the Way Back Machine. It’s a random sampling, but does show the early “Blogger” days. To say it’s passed quickly would short-sell the things I’ve done since arriving in …

January 10, 2007

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Jesus is Not Like Buddha

There are few things I hate more than evangelism. In fact, I would go so far as to say that much of the horrors of the world were brought on by evangelists. People feeling they are divinely propelled to ‘sell’ their ideas to save people from damnation. It kept Africans slaves (for the betterment of …

January 9, 2007

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The Great China Divide: No Heat For You!

I laughed – laughed! – at the poor fools. Images of a crowd of Chinese standing there on the banks of the Yangtse cursing their northern neighbors who sat toasty warm in their centralized heating watching The Best of CCTV. The shivering swarms swearing generational damning profanity while praying the schizo-aircon unit that worked intermittently …

January 7, 2007

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New Year’s And A Few Beers

I spent my second New Year’s Eve in China with good form last night. I’ve mentioned previously that I’ve become a bit of an isolationist in recent months and have rarely ventured out into the Suzhou social scene – quite diametrical from my previous gregariousness. It’s certainly nothing against Suzhou or its nightlife, as it …

January 1, 2007

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