Travel Diary

Safety Is as Safety Does

 “You don’t need that,” Xian taxi driver Chang Xumin remarked sharply, as I reached for my passenger seatbelt. “It’s very safe, really.” He apparently took offense at the thought that I might need a seatbelt in his cab, but the prospect of riding beltless in Chinese traffic persuaded me to buckle up anyway. Chang clucked a few times and sped off, narrowly missing an old woman who was slowly crossing the street.

Big Brother (and Everyone Else) is Watching

A 20-something woman takes off her pants in a doctor’s office. She stands wearing purple-striped bikini-cut underwear in a room full of strangers.

A mother holds her toddler over a bush in an elevated squatting position. A convenient tailored opening allows the kid to do his business, major or minor, without the burden of diapers, or any protective layer.

China Hikes Domestic Fuel Prices

A day after I wrote my blog about the fuel shortages caused by China’s artificially low state-controlled prices, the government raised the price of diesel by 18 percent, the equivalent of $3.83 a gallon.

Retirees Fight for Justice After Alleged Government Scam

The protestors returned to the courtyard of the Hebei Guesthouse in Beijing this week, and as a result I got a deeper understanding of the details involving their eight-year struggle to reclaim funds allegedly lost in an investment promoted by the Heibei provincial government.