Well, I met my contact and picked up the phones on the way, and have everything I need in theory. Saying good-bye to Chris in Chicago felt so strange. He kept reminding me that I was only going to be gone for about 48 hours (including 26 hours on planes), so all I should need was the phones, my passport, a way to pay for food and a way to cont...

'Hao jiu bu jian le', lange tijd niet gezien... Welnu, dat 'zien' zal er nog effe niet in zitten, maar hier volgt tenminste weer een spannend verhaal uit het land van de draken: Zaterdagmorgend, 6 uur. De regendruppels kletsen tegen de glazen lichtkoepels in het plafond van mijn kamer en priemen mijn zoete dromen binnen. Tegen mijn zin open ik é...

Aspire...to be...someone who, to paraphrase Ray Bradbury, "jumps off cliffs and builds his wings on the way down."     Kalle Lasn in Culture Jam June 29, 2007: Happy 39th Anniversary, Mom and Dad!  And, Happy Birthday to me.  (Kind of funny, after four days of plane, train and bus travel starting in Siberia going throug...

In general there's a lot to see in Beijing and I definitely found walking around amongst the people and in the Hutongs a lot more interesting than for instant the forbidden city. The Hutongs are the old part of Beijing, the part that the government i tearing down to put up new buildings or just new old-looking Hutongbuildings.