A few days ago I stumled upon some pictures of Shanghai in 1980s. They reminded me of how Shanghai and Shanghainese were like back then. I felt they were so familiar, close and my childhood seemed to be coming back. And yet they were also so very remote and even ancient, because the changes that have taken place in this city are so many in the last 20 to 30 years. It is incredible, even more than one could imagine. Take a look at the "modern" and "international" Shanghai now, and then look back, I realize that it was almost a totally different city. And it's gone forever.

Read more.

I have read quite a few articles about the word "Laowai". Most of them were about the confusion, unease or even anger towards hearing this word over and over again in China. Although I am a Chinese, I can understand how it probably would feel like to be in a crowd, taking all the stares, hearing people saying "laowai" which you just don't hear in a face to face converstation. If I were in your shoes, I probably would also feel uncomfortable, and certainly would also want to find out what this word REALLY means.

So in this article, I am going to offer my opinions on the word "laowai", as a Chinese who himself has been a foreigner to several other countries incluing USA and european countries, and trying his best to be objective.

Read more.

Before talking about religion, I have to say something about "Dragon" (龙) first. "Dragon" plays a very important role in Chinese traditional culture. Chinese often call themselves "Descendants of dragons". The concept and image of dragon had existed in ancient China more than five thousand years ago. Unlike the evil and greedy monsters in western legends, dragons in China are looked upon as powerful supernatunral existances and guardians of justice.
Read more.

Artificial Intelligence had been able to beat the best Chess players more than 10 years ago. As you probably already knew, the super computer Deep Blue beated Kasparov in 1996. With Moore's law working for so many years later on, computers have become way more advanced now. However, there is still one territory where programs have not been able to beat human intelligence, and it is not even close. This is GO - the ancient and mysterious Chinese board game. Read more.

The name of Shanghai consists of two Chinese Characters: "Shang(上)" and "Hai(海)". "Hai(海)" means "Ocean" in Chinese. And the culture of Shanghai has been characterized as "The Ocean Style(海派)".
Read more.