Farrago

Snow in Suzhou

Having a blog that has first page Google rankings for any number of keyword searches about Suzhou, I tend to get a lot of traffic from people looking for information about the place, generally because they’re living, visiting or moving here. When questioned, I’m always quick to mention how cool a place Suzhou is for …

January 15, 2008
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Almost Famous

So I’m hearing rumours that this here blog got itself mentioned in (the Friday edition of?) the China Daily. I’ve not read the article, and so have idea in what light things were portrayed or why it was mentioned even, but huh, neat. And here I was chuffed that my hometown paper posted the letter …

January 12, 2008
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What Neverbeens don’t know about China

Well, I’ve returned to my chilly Suzhou apartment after a three week refresher in the “real world” and am slowly getting back into the routine of expat life in China. Though I still plan to post my wife Maggie’s impressions of Canada, that involves sorting photos and recollecting exactly what we did while away – …

January 6, 2008
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Happy New Year!

Ah, the coveted “er ling ling ba” has arrived! Well, in China at least – and that’s where it matters most I suppose. A big happy new year to everyone – particularly those readers that have shown much patience in my complete lack of posts while I’ve been off showing the wonders of Canada to …

January 1, 2008
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Heading home for the holidays

Well folks, as of next writing I’ll be back in the land of William Lyon Mackenzie King, trying to explain to Maggie why most of us Canucks go by two names, and he went by four. Alright, I’ll spare her the Canadian politics – I don’t want to inundate her with too much too fast, …

December 14, 2007
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The Chinese Alphabet – it’s not THAT big

For as long as I’ve been in China I’ve been told, and have told others, that the reason the Chinese language is so impossibly difficult to learn is because of its alphabet of 50,000,000,000,000,000 characters, each strokingly more confusing than the last. However, I think it’s time to set the record straight. Comparing the number …

December 7, 2007
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Cart before horse in Chinese-Canadian tourism

Letter to the Welland Tribune Editor: Upon reading Corey Larocque’s recent piece on Chinese criminal Lai Changxing being the biggest obstacle in opening the flood gates to Chinese tour groups onto Niagara, I couldn’t help but laugh. Not at Larocque, he’s swell, but at the idea that China’s Approved Destination Status (ADS) is the obstacle. …

December 5, 2007
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Vote China Law Blog

Hey all, Dan Harris, over at the China Law Blog, is calling all readers to vote for his blog in the ABA Journal 100 Blawg competition. From his mouth: … I am begging all our loyal readers (and anyone else) to vote for China Law Blog. We are in the race of our lives (how’s …

November 29, 2007
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Suzhou makes list of most expensive cities

According to a survey by ECA International Suzhou has been ranked as the 20th most costly Asian city for expats to live in. The list; which puts Suzhou slightly ahead of Xi’An, Wuhan and Nanjing and behind Dalian, Chengdu and Chongqing; lists both Beijing and Shanghai in the top 10 (#7 and #8 respectively). A …

November 27, 2007
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I’m on a Mexican radio, whoah

Alright, so it’s technically American radio, but as Christine of the China Business Network is out of San Diego, it’s damn close – particularly if you ask these guys. And anyway, bet you can’t get that damn song out of your head. So yeah, radio. If you ever wanted to hear me rehash things regular …

November 21, 2007
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Travelversary, how I got where I am

So, that little bump in the road with the site being down marks my third year of running this blog. Well, technically I didn’t start writing on here until I arrived in China in January… but thehumanaught.com is technically three this week. Additionally, this week marks another anniversary of sorts. It was November 11, 2003, …

November 16, 2007
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