Qing Wendy

We’ve received a lot of worried communication from you all, regarding the corona virus.   This is a post to let you know that we’re fine.   One thing that I heard from someone is:   the difference between an epidemic and a pandemic is pan ic, and that certainly seems to hold true for this latest adventure. We first heard about the outbreak, before Christmas.   It wasn’t, at that time, an outbreak, but the New York Times announced that a mysterious illness had broken out in Wuhan, and people were on the ground trying to figure out what it meant.   About two weeks later, we received a note from Dave’s mom, asking about the implications for our time in China.   We said that Wuhan is a long ways from Xi’an, so no worries.   We then flew south for our winter vacation in Guangzhou and Hong Kong.   At that point, our biggest concern was the disturbances in Hong Kong – Should we go or should we stay in South China?   After studying the St...

In life, there are many ways we can misunderstand each another, but when living in a foreign culture I have come to realize that the number of those ways can seem to increase exponentially.   I have been working with a Chinese colleague, Doris, on editing Chinese to English translations of series of texts about   China’s role in the development of east Africa.   When I was first given this assignment, I was worried about how I would give feedback to my Chinese colleagues.   After all, “face” is an important issue here.   How do you criticize someone’s work without making them lose face?   The work has been tedious at best.   First, let me give you a sample of the kind of writing I have been asked to fix.   Please feel free to skip to the end of the quote as soon as your head starts to hurt. “In the process of promoting cooperation with East African countries, it is necessary to proceed from the two aspects of promoting cooperation wi...

Cute couple at the gates of Yong Xing Fang Market One nice thing about living in Xi’an is a simple walk can turn into a history lesson. Nowhere is this truer than when you find yourself walking along the city walls. For example, Yong Xing Fang market is about 500 yards from the East gate of the old city walls.  It is a truly charming spot.  Approximately a single city block, it is crammed with old-style food stalls and picnic tables, performers, kids, and every kind of food imaginable. Each stall sells a Xi’an specialty – noodles, soup, dumplings, shredded meat sandwiches, sweet nutty candy like peanut brittle --  it is all there. Built in 2015, the whole block celebrates Shaanxi’s food heritage. Cotton Candy, like you've never seen before In China’s Golden Age , Charles Benn writes about everyday life in the Tang Dynasty (Oxford UP, 2001).  The Tang dynasty lasted about 300 years, from 600-900AD, and was a time of Chinese expansion.  ...