The Geek Dinner – Network/Netplay

Hit “The City” last night for the inaugural Shanghai Geek Dinner, hosted by Christine of The China Business Network. It was the first “networking” event I’ve ever been to, and gave me a chance to whore myself a bit as well as finally put a dent in the massive pile of business cards I have. …

Bookworm Lit Fest Hits Suzhou

Suzhou’s newest hot spot is undeniably The Bookworm. Part café, part library, part restaurant, part bar and part bookshop; it’s not hard to see why the place has quickly become a refuge for many a Suzhou expat. On top of its boatload of English-language books, the cozy two-storey canal-side venue now has the distinction of …

My Favourite (Suzhou) Blogs

It used to be that I’d skim 10-20 blogs a day, with even more sitting in my feed reader should I have the extra time. I love blogs, love blogging and love the China blogsphere. In fact, it was just that love for it all that led me to setup the Hao Hao Report, a …

Lost Laowai author hunt

Hey folks, if you’ve ever considered writing about your experiences in China, or currently write a personal blog and would like to get a bit more exposure, please check out the following: We’re looking for a few good Laowai. As most of you likely know, Lost Laowai is my “other” baby site. It’s one part …

Puppy Power in the PRC Part II

Well, it’s the end of day three with the puppy and I dare say there’s not a place she hasn’t marked with a little bit of puppy love. The physics of a puppy astound me. I swear more comes out of her than goes in. But for every ounce of patience she takes from me, …

Puppy Power in the PRC

It’s somewhat amazing how quickly a relatively calm and orderly life can be turned into a non-stop “no!” shouting, pee cleaning, slobber and hair covered existence. We got a puppy! Maggie and I have long talked about getting a dog, and in the end always had something looming that prevented us (mostly financial or geographical). …

A reminder of the way things were

Maggie returns home today after spending the Spring Festival holidays at her parents’ place up in the North East. For the last nine days I’ve been thrown back into a lifestyle I had nearly forgotten – bachelorhood. Now before images of me out all night sniffin’ coke off the scarred ass of a 50 kuai …

Moving Beyond CCTV9

I wish I could say this post is about how I’ve finally decided to change the channel from CCTV9 and delve deep into the Chinese psyche by watching period-piece soapumentaries about the Tang, Song and Qing dynasties… but it’s not. All this snow and craptastic weather has left Suzhou a pretty uninviting place for anyone …

Suzhou burr-ied in snow

The China Meteorological Administration (CMA) has issued a “Red Alert” for a good chunk of the country due to wide-spread snow storms. Looking out my window it’s not hard to see why. Suzhou, a city that might see one light dusting of snow a year is covered in 2+ feet of the white stuff. Needless …

ChinesePod affiliate program back up

ChinesePod.com, one of the pioneers for learning languages via podcasts, has recently relaunched their affiliate program, and I gotta say, it’s better than ever. An affiliate program might not mean much to many of you, but I know a lot of folks that read this blog regularly also run their own China-related blogs and sites, …