[NB: This article was first written in June 2020. There is a Chinese version on my Chinanotes.org website] Why did Western Countries Fail to Prevent the Spread of Covid-19? The Covid-19 pandemic is a once in a century grave health… Read More ›
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Shanghai: The Former French Concession Area
I have had to postpone a trip I planned to make to Beijing in May this year because of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, I have had time during the pandemic lockdown to reflect on some of the photographs I took… Read More ›
My New Website www.chinanotes.org
I have started a new website (www.chinanotes.org) on which I am summarising articles published on the Chinese website http://www.aisixiang.com. The Aisixiang (‘Love Thought’) site publishes articles by Chinese writers, academics and think tank specialists. Some are written specially for the… Read More ›
We Are All Marxists Now
I have recently finished working through a Chinese textbook on linguistics (used in Chinese universities’ ‘Linguistics 101’ courses). I found nothing particularly ideological about the textbook. It did contain references to Russian linguists (along with western experts like Saussure and… Read More ›
An Evening at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing
During my visit to China this past summer I attended a concert of the Chinese Military Police Men’s Chorus ( (中国武警男声合唱团）at the National Centre for the Performing Arts （国家大剧院）in Beijing. I decided to attend this particular concert partly because I… Read More ›
A Visit to the Geological Museum of China in Beijing
During my visit to Beijing in June 2017, I visited the Geological Museum of China in the west central part of the city, near Xisi subway station. This museum opened in 1959 and is showing its age, but it does… Read More ›
A Visit to Sun Yat-sen’s Mausoleum in Nanjing
During a recent visit to Nanjing, I visited Sun Yat-sen’s Mausoleum. Sun Yat-sen was the first President of the Republic of China following the collapse of the Qing Dynasty in 1911. He later founded the Nationalist Party of China (Kuomintang)…. Read More ›
Chinese Has at Least One Advantage over English
I have spent around 2,700 hours over the past three years studying Chinese, about the time it would have taken to complete an undergraduate degree. I am still far from fluent in speaking Chinese, but I can read it reasonably… Read More ›
The Chinese Love of Calligraphy
On each of my visits to China over the past year and a half I have been struck by the number and quality of calligraphy displays one finds in museums and galleries there. Almost every museum contains at least a… Read More ›
Whither Brexit?
In my last post on this site I set out my predictions for the outcome of the Brexit negotiations. When I wrote that post in March, Theresa May was on the verge of submitting the Article 50 notice to the… Read More ›
My Predictions for the Outcome of the Brexit Negotiations
Theresa May has announced that she will serve the Article 50 notice on 29th March. This means that the UK will leave the EU two years later, in March 2019. As a strong Remain supporter, I continue to hope that… Read More ›
A Visit to the ‘Presidential Palace’ in Nanjing
While in Nanjing last November (2016), I visited the ‘Presidential Palace’, located on Zhongshan Avenue in central Nanjing. The Presidential Palace is a museum comprising numerous buildings, pavilions and well landscaped gardens. It is located on the site of a… Read More ›
Whither Brexit?
I was of course very disappointed by the outcome of the EU Referendum last June. However, I was not at all surprised. I opposed David Cameron’s decision to call a Referendum in the first place, as I knew it would… Read More ›
Reflections on the EU Referendum Campaign: the Immigration Issue
Looking back over previous posts on this site today, I was struck by my 31 August 2015 post ‘Will Immigration Concerns Lead to Brexit?’. As I predicted in that post, immigration has indeed become the number one issue of the… Read More ›
The Beijing University ‘Red Building’
One of the most interesting places I visited during my recent trip to Beijing (March 2016) was the Beijing University ‘Red Building’. This building is only a short walk from the north west corner of the Forbidden City and is… Read More ›
