Fall in soldiers! Give me twenty --- and while you’re at it, bring me those crayons. No. These tiny tots in fatigues aren’t gearing up for the front line (yet). “Nanjing Experimental Military Playground in Shanghai” is a kindergarten located on Julu Road that aims at disciplining all those punks you’ve been hearing about who …
Category: China
Dispatches from beyond the Great Firewall
Shanghai: Introducing Nivea Skin-whitening Cream — For Men?
Skin-whitening cream has been in vogue throughout Asia since cosmetics companies made it cheap and easily accessible. And, I had thought, it was a fad only popular with women. Yesterday while jumping onto South Shaanxi Road Station, I spotted an advertisement promoting the familiar-looking bleaching product --- for men. The cream claims it can help …
Continue reading Shanghai: Introducing Nivea Skin-whitening Cream — For Men?
Ducking out of Disney English
When I first came to Shanghai last year the freeze of winter was just settling in. I remember I was pressing on through the wind in the French Concession one day when I came across a Disney English school. Disney had apparently set up shop in '08 to break into China's market through education; yet, …
How to Croak the Frog Trade
If it tastes good, why not eat it? This seems to be the question bouncing around the minds of those in search of wild frogs in Shanghai’s wet markets. Illicit sales of these controlled amphibians are quietly done under the veil of early dawn much to the delight of purchasers’ palates. The underground trade currently …
China’s Donating Dilemma
Bill Gates and Warren Buffet stirred up a media storm when they, along with several other notable US billionaires, pledged to donate at least half of their fortunes to charity. In September, the duo will come and ask China’s wealthy to do the same, but can the billionaires bank on Chinese benevolence? Considering the pace …
Justin Calderón 