China 0n-line: Poems and Perspectives

I was exploring the “Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the United States of America” web site while I questioned the credibility of the site with my keyboard clicks. I could not find the address for the Chinese Embassy in D.C. or the consulate in Chicago on the site. Perhaps I can market my editing skills in Shanghai; important things get lost in translation on many of the web sites I have encountered where Chinese is translated into English.

Judge the credibility of the “Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the United States of America” web site for yourself. The excerpt from the news release about human rights in the United States is a matter of how you choose to process and culturally understand the world.

http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/

China issues human rights record of the United States (03/08/07)

China issued on March 8 the Human Rights Record of the United States in 2006 in response to the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2006 issued by the U.S. Department of State on Tuesday.

The document says the United States has a flagrant record of violating the Geneva Convention in systematically abusing prisoners during the Iraqi War and the War in Afghanistan.

A report released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Aug. 29, 2006 says there were 37 million people living in poverty in 2005, accounting for 12.6 percent of total U.S. population. The report also says there were 7.7 million families in poverty and one out of eight Americans was living in poverty in 2005. "The ethnic minorities are at the bottom of American society," the Chinese report says.

http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/zt/zgrq/t302225.htm

I read about volunteering for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and found a link to a site called "Chinese Poems."

After the Rain - Yue Fu

After rain, the forest's sleek,
Between the pines, the moon startles my heart.
I smile and think of home,
A foreign guest in a foreign land.

http://www.chinese-poems.com/yfa1.html

That will be me in September.

Guard Your Banana

I have been thinking about bananas and traveling lately- somewhat due to this passage from "The Inheritance of Loss."

"No fruit dies so vile and offensive a death as the banana, but it had been packed [for the trip] just in case."

I have had banana-horror-black-spots and mush traveling incidents myself. But look! Justin found this lovely gift for his friend Rachael, and it might solve the problem of banana death on the road.

THE BANANA GUARD, available in assorted colors:

http://www.bananaguard.com/

What snack do you pack when you travel?

A Tea Bar Visit Plan: My New City September '07

I was reading about tea houses in Shanghai on an expat web site that a friend sent me. I am planning a visit to this tea bar, and I would really love to meet the person who wrote the following review.

Shing Shung Tea Bar
Address: 195 North Huang Pi Road
Phone: 86 21 6358 2682

Information: Although outside the Old City walls, this cozy tea house-café, in the shadow of the wave-like Shanghai Grand Theatre near the People’s Square, is worth the cross-town trek just for its chilled black apple tea and coconut toast. When lunch hour is over and the well-heeled corporate types have departed, the tea house takes on a more turn-of-the-century European feeling as huddles of Othello players and pensive smokers reclaim the chairs around the dark, wood-paneled room and the try to make senses of the Edith Piaf tunes floating in from the kitchen.

Investigate tea houses and other surprises in Shanghai for yourself:

http://shanghai.asiaxpat.com/directory.asp?cat=250&id=3890
http://shanghai.asiaxpat.com/atoz.asp

Books I Want To Peruse This Summer

Can't believe I am involved in a Facebook on-line community food fight. Watch out, I may throw a cake at you when I get my lunch money. How old am I? Paul, you started it!

It is great to have so much free time this summer. I love it!

After reading book reviews this morning, I think I should go back for my Ph.D. in literature, but I need some time off first.

Appreciate this thought from Khaled Hosseini, author of the “The Kite Runner” and “A Thousand Splendid Suns,” with me.

“As a writer, the things that always move me are the intimate human stories, the links between the characters, their dreams, their disappointments, their crushing defeats and their atonements.”

Books I want to peruse:

Ian McEwan - On Chesil Beach

***** Ryszard Kapuscinski, Knopf - Travels with Herodotus

National Geographic - The 100 Best Vacations to Enrich Your Life

Quirk, edited by: Erik Torkells - The Smart Traveler’s Passport: 399 Tips from Seasoned Travelers