Looking for an over-commercial Song dynasty atmosphere? look no further than Hangzhou’s Song Dynasty Town which is a bizarre attempt at a cultural theme-park, obviously very local tourism oriented. If you’re interested in context – Hangzhou, with its long history, was the capital of Song dynasty since 1229 and is generally remembered as time of [...]

China is warming up to environmental protection and the concept of wetland parks. Xixi National Wetland Park in Hangzhou is the first in a series of planned wetland parks across China. Right now, a few months after it’s been open to the public, it is still more of a half-built cultural attraction rather than a [...]

What makes cross cultural relationships work? Can cross cultural relationships work?
At the end of 2008 I conducted an open-survey about cross-cultural relationships, inviting my open and willing blog readers to share their experiences of CCRs. This series of posts highlights some of what the participants shared about their cross cultural relationship experiences.
Previous posts [...]

Is it easy for those in cross cultural relationships to relate to the different culture? At the end of 2008 I conducted an open-survey about cross-cultural relationships, inviting my open and willing blog readers to share their experiences of CCRs. This series of posts highlights some of what the participants shared about their cross [...]

Do friends and family matter in cross-cultural relationships? it seems they sometimes do. At the end of 2008 I conducted an open-survey about cross-cultural relationships, inviting my open and willing blog readers to share their experiences of CCRs. This series of posts highlights some of what the participants shared about their cross cultural relationship experiences. [...]

Cross Cultural Relationships (CCR) are fascinating to me. Although both sides obviously care for one another and are committed to doing the maximum to make it work, culture seems to matter – sometimes it gets in the way, sometimes it’s what species things up.
At the end of 2008, while I was still in [...]

HK Arts Center in Wan Chai has a neat series of street concerts just outside the culture center building that’s been running for a while now. The Hong Kong Arts Centre (香港藝術中心), mind you, runs an English Facebook group with the latest information about the events that they’re holding, and so I learned of the [...]

What do you generally think about the Hong Kong gals and boys? I recently came across some interesting discussions and posts on the issue with some very amusing lists of stereotypes describing the HK boys and girls. The funniest ones are the "81 Ugly Truths" from actual local Hongkongese social movements mobilized against those [...]