Over the past few years living in China, the air pollution conundrum (among many development issues) has been a major concern for expats and locals alike. Just last month (October 2013) an “airpocolypse” shrouded the city of Harbin in northeastern China at a level of around 1,000 micrograms per cubic meter! That’s off the charts and about “40 times the safety level recommended by the World Health Organisation” reports the Guardian newspaper.* Obviously this is (and will be) a major cause of lung cancer in the future, along with the effects of circa-1950s attitudes toward smoking.
zhuhai
Getting Poked: A Chinese Way to Lose Weight
- Acupuncture
Acupuncture, as with massage, is often misunderstood by the West. Although Traditional Chinese Medicine is gaining popularity, this procedure looks more like a painful circus act than anything truly healthful. With a little bit of belief, it actually serves many purposes for both repairing your body and staying healthy.
But even if you wanted to try acupuncture for whatever reason, where would you get it done? A flight to China isn’t exactly in the cards for most people… Here’s a map that might help you get started.
Me on a Game show in China
Last month I was invited to Hubei TV to participate in a major talent/game show in China called 挑战女人帮 or something like “Challenge (with a girl’s help?)” in English. It was a lot of work but extremely fun. From Zhuhai, it was a couple hours flight to Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province. Since my girlfriend is from Wuhan I felt especially comfortable there because the people are cool and the food is awesome. But what happened when I got to my hotel was a completely different story…
Getting Wet in Zhuhai, China
The rains are coming again. After a dry winter and a super humid spring with sweaty walls, it is time for mother nature to let her hair down again with torrential downpours. Here is a sample of that from my previous apartment on the Jinan University campus.
Warning: These photos are rather Armageddony!
(Click images to zoom in)
Titanic 3D in China
I watched Titanic in 3D today in Zhuhai and was a little bit surprised- I actually shed a tear. Not because of the love story, but at the view of the Statue of Liberty near the end. (Sometimes the somewhat cheesy moments in Hollywood movies catch me at a sensitive moment.) But, its ok because most of the other (older) people in the theater were crying too.
I went with my girlfriend, who clearly remembers watching the original Titanic in 1997, and was really looking forward to taking me to the show. While we were there she noticed something peculiar. There was no voice singing during My Heart Will Go On; it was just the score. I had to think about that for a minute and then I realized she was right. “Why did they take out the singing?” she asked in Chinese. I said I wasn’t sure, but it might have had something to do with the modern audience not really caring to hear an older song. “The song isn’t popular anymore” I told her. But maybe there was another reason. Who knows. But that wasn’t the only thing different about this Chinese re-release…
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