China's daily news offering - some cherry picked delights

When I sit down for breakfast with my host family and start the day eating whatever Chinese delight awaits me (sometimes dumplings, sometimes those steamed buns, and sometimes just plain bread with qiaokeli, chocolate) I also like to indulge in some China Daily and see what China's English-speaking newspaper (unfortunately my Chinese is a long way off newspaper standard) has to offer.

Then after class I'll invest 15 RMB in the paper version to get a little bit extra and be able to awkwardly turn pages on the bus.

However I read it, it always gets the cogs in my head turning. 'Well, that was expected' 'Oh, that's crazy' 'Hmmm, actually maybe they have a point'.

They say History is written by the victors but who writes the news? Here I offer you some of the articles that have caught my eye from the Chinese-speaking part of the world.

'Judicial move aims at online rumours'
New guidelines issued by the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate have got me thinking about free speech v. truth-based publications.

'Official calls for improved elevator safety'
I might start taking the stairs.

'Taking Chinese culture to the world'
Hello Joseph Nye but then again China's millennia-old history, culture, philosophy, economy, language... are all pretty interesting so there's a lot to take in.

'Silk Road to take on a new look'
There's more to trade than the European single market. This is a very interesting proposal from President Xi Jinping which uses historic ties to tap into a potentially massive market.

More to come soon.

Park Life - What are they playing?

As I get out the subway on the way to my hostel, as I head down the road to grab some supplies and most definitely when I’m heading out for dinner in the evening, I see groups of Chinese men huddled around, enthusiastically commentating on what’s going on in the middle of the group.

In Beijing, the centre of attention is usually two elderly men playing a board game with lines within two large square perimeters. The game pieces are large and round, each punctuated with their own Chinese character.

The game is Xianqi, a game based on military strategy. Translated loosely it means ‘Elephant game’ but it’s often known as Chinese Chess and the object of the game is to capture your opponent's General/Marshall. Dividing the two players is the river which is often marked with 楚河 (Chu River) and 漢界 (Han border) referring to the Chu-Han War, an interregnum conflict between the Qin and Han Dynasty.


For me this game represents so much. It seems to highlight a deep social link where communities enjoy supporting and watching their friends battle head-to-head with strategic moves. It represents a peoples who still hold onto the physical rather than the digital. (For better and worse). Finally it represents a deep link to China’s history (intellectual, militaristic and social).