Category Archives: china

The Enduring Value of Soho

Posted on June 3, 2011 by AXM

A sign outside Jianwai SOHO, a home office complex in Beijing’s Central Business District. The enduring real estate value of the word “Soho” is amazing to me. It apparently started as a hunting cry that became associated with a fashionable part of London. Then New York sprouted SoHo, of course, which has arguably outshone its [...]

A Weekend of Social Media Art: Xindanwei and Welcome to Enter at the JUE Festival

Posted on March 30, 2011 by AXM

An excellent weekend in Shanghai, my first of what I’m sure will be many times in this city by the sea. I first spoke at Xindanwei (新单位), a co-working and new media space that I’ve been admiring from afar. For their Weekend of Social Media (社会性媒体周末), I introduced the audience to social media art and [...]

24 Hour Books

Posted on March 30, 2011 by AXM

In a city abundant in mobile phones and Kindles, here’s a 24-hour self-service library, just outside the main Shanghai Library. Got me thinking about how to improve literacy, how to encourage literacy, how to get people to the library. In New York and Los Angeles, library hours were regularly a challenge: I’d have to rush [...]

Amenities for Travel

Posted on March 30, 2011 by AXM

Folding stools and rollaways sold outside Beijing’s central station (北京站).

Modes of Literacy

Posted on March 9, 2011 by AXM

Thinking lately about modes of literacy. Ever since moving here, my Chinese literacy has shot up, but I still struggle. While I can scan a heavy text of philosophy swiftly, I read even basic characters slowly, piecing together meaning one by one. Foreigners I know who’ve lived here for years and can carry on conversations [...]

Subway Nervous System

Posted on March 9, 2011 by AXM

A detail of a bus sign in southeast Beijing, and a danchengpiao (单程票: single journey ticket) for the subway. With its increasing sprawl and traffic, Beijing reminds me so much of my hometown, Los Angeles, except for one key issue: public transportation. Beijing’s public transportation, soon to boast the largest subway network in the world, [...]

Busy Beijing

Posted on February 19, 2011 by AXM

And just like that, Beijing is renao (热闹: busy and bustling) once more. Want to get a sense of how many people there are in this city? Just stand on a bridge.

One Month in Beijing

Posted on February 12, 2011 by AXM

One month in Beijing. What’s changed since the first day? Helping my cab drivers navigate the city, a welcoming party for colleagues from Oslo… and snow, glorious government-sponsored snow. Let the disorientation period end… time to really discover this city. Below, images from Nuren Jie (女人街), or Ladies’ Street, one of Beijing’s many winding markets, [...]

Beijing in the Spring (Festival)

Posted on February 9, 2011 by AXM

It’s hard to explain the day-to-day experience of Chinese New Year in Beijing. It’s not at all like the Chinatown celebrations I’m used to back in New York. Or even the ones in Manila. It’s not quite like Thanksgiving or Christmas. Not like July Fourth, or the Western New Year. It’s a bit of all [...]

A Sense of Awe, A Sense of Time

Posted on January 31, 2011 by AXM

The night before I left for Beijing, I watched Outsourced , a silly comedy about a man whose call center job is outsourced to India. He reluctantly takes a journey to the small town where the new center is located, and he’s promptly and predictably overwhelmed with culture shock and the frustrations of a different [...]