Category Archives: China

Day trip to Xi’An (from Beijing)

You have a spare day while you are in Beijing. You are in the mood for an excursion that is a bit adventurous. Think Xi’An, the city that is a couple of thousand years older than Beijing, home to the … Continue reading

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Mobile Payment

It is like the Internet frenzy all over again, all those companies chasing eye-balls by pouring tons of money into the venture. Who is going to pay for all the the infra-structure, R&D, marketing, and the rewards? During the Bubble, … Continue reading

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A Beijing Traffic Experiment

When T3 came alive before the 2008 Olympics, going to Beijing International Airport was a breeze. Hop onto the Airport Expressway, zip through sparsely occupied lanes, and you arrive at the majestic Terminal 3 in about 30 minutes. The most … Continue reading

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An Alternative to Uber

In China, nearly nation-wide, there are many apps for taxi services. The two major players are çš„çš„ (Dee Dee) and å¿«çš„ (Kuai Dee). As a passenger, you enter the destination and pick-up location to request a taxi service. All nearby … Continue reading

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SiMaTai: the Sequel

Edit on Mar 16, 2015. Original post on Oct 2nd, 2008. Must be due to the popularity of my original post :-), this section of the Great Wall has become more popular. For unknown reasons, the official has blocked the … Continue reading

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Empire of the Pig

The Economist’s December issue has a startling article on the economy of pig, particularly about its consumption in China: Chinese now eat half of the pork in the world. During my recent trip to Chengdu, we got stuck on the … Continue reading

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Leave for the memories

A couple of hundred young engineers met me in 2005 in Beijing. The expectations were high: they needed to grow up fast to take on intense and difficult software development projects, working for leadership positins that were 16 hours away … Continue reading

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台灣罵

打開台灣電視,所謂新聞節目,就是一小時的罵!罵得狠,罵的絕,就有人稱快。於是各台分邊,輪流開罵。選舉後,馬英九成了過街老鼠,所有人罵的最佳標的。慘哪! 台灣有複雜的中國情結。老蔣時代,培育了對立仇恨,美麗島造就了獨立的激情。以前他們是"水深火熱中的大陸同胞"。今天是我們一步步的被邊緣化,眼看就要被經濟統一了。台灣像是小時候的模範生,長大了發現吊尾巴的留級生混的比自己好一萬倍。見面時太太尷尬,無法面對。兩千萬人中一半"寧死不屈"不為五斗米折腰,另一半想他們是白癡。 台灣還有許多可愛的地方:精緻的文化,禮貌的百姓,溫曛的服務,一流的高等教育。錢是跟人的,戰略地位,也是人做出來的。台灣的罩門是分歧:南北,藍綠,世代,府院,獨統,窮富,官商。其實分歧是人的本性,舉世皆然,只要協商而不對立,不同的意見是正向的。 協商的基礎是信任。下次碰到個"對方",別開罵,想想他們的觀點,有商量的餘地嗎?罵只是一時之快,只有破壞性。再罵,這島就沒了!

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再遊蘇州

好些年前來蘇州過,重點是貝律銘設計的博物館,稱是一代大師的閉門作. 幾個園林古鎮當然也看了. 感覺蘇州是個可順道一遊的地方,而不是個重點目的地. 從南京去上海,不如加一站蘇州,頗理想的. 夏天的蘇州,中午時無風酷熱,汗流不停. 過一陣子清風帶著雨意吹來, 然後一劈雷,大雨傾盆. 我搶著雨前晃逛完了平江路. 說來也頗豐盛,先吃個臭豆腐,逛了”耦園”,吃個小吃午飯,再聽聽”彈唱博物館”的節目. 跳上個公交車,一路回酒店. 先沖個涼,再看窗外雨景. 彈唱博物館的巷口有個小吃叫”弄堂口”,居然有自釀黑啤,來了一扎,配上小籠包. 一人邊吃邊看鄰座遊人. 也自得其樂. 博物館今天的節目是說書,我興匆匆買張”狀元座”,結果是蘇州話,我一字聽不懂. 但是發現看他說書也很有娛樂性. 表情豐富,語調上下,不時還離座手腳表演一下. 我傻瓜聽書,還邊聽邊笑呢! 在耦園看到個對聯,上聯”耦園住佳耦”,下聯”城曲築詩城”,橫批”枕波雙隱”. 這多幸福啊! 這園是清朝個按察使修的. 一宅二園,故名”耦”. 出差行程中多了一天,在蘇州晃晃. 決定正確!

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于記杏仁豆腐

台北信義區,新光三越A11地下館B2. 聽說有其他分店. 他的杏仁豆腐雪花冰.一絕! 聽說他將杏仁豆腐凍成冰,再刨成雪花.碗底為其他配料. 這冰入口軟軟涼涼的,沒有一般刨冰的尖刺. 雪白帶點甜,可愛又可口. 看官們如到附近,不彷試試.

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