beijing – Chasing Mirages

Wall to Nowhere

June 17, 2014 / Chasing / 0 Comments

Oh God. It’s been the longest hiatus ever.

I’m back in China for the summer, no more excuses. Â Last week I visited the crumbling Great Wall near the village of Long Quan Yu ï¼ˆé¾æ³‰å³ªï¼‰. Â There’s an awesome B&B with cabins built on the mountainside from which we enjoyed panoramic views and stargazing through floor-to-ceiling windows.

The best part of it was, the running water came from mountain springs. Â It’s the first time I’ve drunk straight from the faucet in China. Â The only notable consequence was five full days of simultaneous projectile vomiting and incendiary diarrhea. Â On the bright side, I lost five kilos and regained a six-pack.

Just kidding, the water was really damn good.

When air is not free

February 21, 2013 / Chasing / 7 Comments

One of the biggest headlines out of China in recent weeks has been Beijing’s “airpocalypse“.Â Â It’s heartbreaking when people can’t even take clean air for granted.Â Here’s a sensationalistic report about a correlation between childhood air quality and intelligence.Â Will Beijingers (and much of China) soon be plagued with a generation of even greater idiocy?

Beijing Public Bike Rentals – the nth time’s a charm?

July 16, 2012 / Chasing / 3 Comments

Through the years there have been several attempts to establish a public bike rental system in Beijing. Â They’ve all been abject failures. Â I haven’t investigated why they failed, nor did I ever use them.

When I was last in Beijing in May, I noticed that new docking stations for public bikes were popping up, and today I saw one that had some shiny new bikes docked.

Little Donkey Farm

February 28, 2012 / Chasing / 1 Comment

I’ve mentioned Beijing’s Little Donkey Farm a couple of times already. Â I finally had the chance to visit.

Food safety has been a huge issue in China in recent years, and wealthy urban dwellers are starting to scramble for food that will not render them sterile or cancerous. Â Little Donkey Farm capitalizes on this fear by giving Beijingers a few options for access to less-toxic food. Â Insecure urbanites can subscribe to a weekly order of in-season vegetables, or they can rent a plot of land at the farm and either tend it themselves on the weekends or pay the farm to raise vegetables on it.

Organic Donkey, Part II

September 25, 2011 / Chasing / 0 Comments

I mentioned Beijing’s Little Donkey Organic Farm in an earlier post, and it looks like an NPR blogger has visited recently.

I’ll be in Beijing next week, and it’s high time I dropped by the place, Â especially after my somewhat disappointing visit to the Vang Vieng Organic Farm in Laos.