Bootstrappin’

I just got my first haircut in China, for the outrageous price of 10 RMB ($1.47 US)! It was at the sketchiest back alley barber shop in Beijing, a two-seater about the size of a walk-in closet — and I was pleasantly surprised by the service. The woman working there spoke no English, but I […]

They sure love Chairman Mao in China. Not only is there a statue of him in every city, his face on every single one of their RMB bills (except for the worthless ones; those are reserved for the ethnic minorities)… but he also makes an appearance on t-shirts, watches, buttons, playing cards, figurines, handbags, hats, […]

China’s got the most diverse array of food in the world, and the Donghuamen Night Market in the heart of Beijing is the largest street food market I’ve ever seen. It took me 12 minutes to walk from one end to the other! Here you can find treats here like fried scorpions, snakes, ostrich heads […]

Beijing’s got a soundtrack right now, and boy is it catchy! The Olympics may have the most upbeat, cheesy and sickeningly happy collection of songs ever recorded. And everywhere you go in Beijing right now, you’ll hear them, played ad-infinitum. Every store, every train station, every TV station, and every cell phone ring tone…it’s inescapable. […]

The official line from the Olympic organizers is that all Olympic tickets are SOLD OUT, but that certainly doesn’t mean every seat is filled. Here is the row of seats behind me at the BMX Cycling event I attended today: The number of empty seats is painful, especially when the demand is so strong. I […]

Interesting fact about the world’s most popular soft drink… Coca-Cola is pronounced ‘ke kou ke le’ in Chinese, which coincidentally translates into “Delicious Happiness.” Where it came from: In the 1920s, Coke created the four Chinese characters that, when combined, approximated the English sound of “Coca-Cola.” As the official Mandarin-language Coca-Cola logo gained visibility, local […]

Hong Kong’s skyline is world-famous, and for good reason. It’s one of the tallest, it’s colorful and unique, and it’s got tons of amazing vantage points (these photos were taken from the boardwalk across the bay in Tsim Tsa Shui, Kowloon). And every night at 8PM, there is a light show where the buildings come […]

Taiwan is swarming with locusts right now, and somebody has to catch them. I went for a walk this morning in Taitung, and stumbled into the Lishu Recreational Area, a little park with the Shinto “Longfong Tower” and a nature walk called the “Liyushan Trail.” The sky was black with locusts buzzing everywhere, and I […]

Taiwan doesn’t have biker gangs. Taiwan is a biker gang. Taipei is absolutely swarming with mopeds…it seems like there are more mopeds here than people, and then some. I walked out on a random street near where we’re staying, and recorded a few minutes of video. It’s insane: Pete and I are planning to head […]