Ed's note: Portrait of a Beijinger is an original video series for the Anthill by Tom Fearon and Abel Blanco. Each month, Tom and Abel will profile an ordinary Beijinger with an extraordinary story. The first episode in the series, along with Tom’s description of meeting its protagonist Liu Xinran, is republished with permission from the Anthill.
This piece is republished with permission from the Anthill ~ On Tuesday the 18th, 8pm at the Bookworm [Ed's note: the event, originally planned for iQiYi, sold out that venue, so it's been moved to the Bookworm; more tickets are now available!], I'm on the panel for Blogging China, part of the Bookworm literary festival. It should be a free ranging discussion of English language blogs about China, hosted by Anthony Tao from Beijing Cream, with Mia Li from Sinosphere, Tao Stein, and Jeremy Goldkorn.
This piece is republished with permission from the Anthill, a writers' colony for narrative writing about China
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The neighborhood meeting was scheduled for Saturday morning and promised to tackle the Five Great Problems plaguing our housing community, No. 19 Ju’er hutong, Beijing.
This piece is republished with permission from the Anthill. ~ I don't generally post news on the Anthill, as it's designed for narrative writing and there are too many China news aggregators anyway. But this is breaking news I discovered myself and have to share: the municipal authorities for the Gulou area of central Beijing have, as of midnight last night, made riding fixed gear bicycles in the area against the law.
As with dog years, so is it with China years – one here is equivalent to several most places else. They just fit more in. When it comes to pace of change, no-one else holds a candle really.
I’ve been out of China for two years. For a dog, that’s ten human years, and you could argue the rate for China is about the same. It’s like leaving London shortly after the millenium and coming back for the Olympics. Recognisable, but look closer and you notice all the new things.
Ed’s note: We’re excited to republish this first post from the Anthill, recently launched by Alec Ash, whose previous project was the excellent blog Six. Describing itself as a “writer’s colony,” the Anthill seeks narrative writing from and about China. Interested contributors are encouraged to email Alec (you can also follow @colonytweets or like on Facebook). In this first piece, “A Thangka... Read more »
