Orville Schell on China

Very interesting piece in New York Review of Books (online, of course) by Orville Schell, reviewing the movie Dark Matter, about a Chinese PhD student in the US who, perceiving that his advisors have caused his humiliation and loss of face, kills them and himself.

It's a very perceptive historical review of the "100 years of humiliation" that Chinese feel (and celebrate, if that's the right word) that goes a long way to explain the actions and reactions of the government and Chinese citizens in response to things like the torch protests.

Check it out:
China: Humiliation & the Olympics.

What a Contrast: Hangzhou

You get used to being in a big (big) city like Shanghai, and you can forget that there is a countryside, or green space that isn't maintained by an army of gardeners. A couple of weeks back, we spent the weekend in Hangzhou, which is an old town a couple of hours southwest of Shanghai. It was dang cold, but we lucked out - it was crystal clear.

This is a view of part of Xihu (West Lake), a mostly man-made (via dredging) lake that is the center of Hangzhou.

Another thing you forget about in Shanghai (being a river delta kinda city) is that there are hills. What a pleasure to walk up hill for a while - just like being in San Francisco.

Hangzhou isn't a small city, it's roughly 3 million urban residents. But compared with Shanghai (18 million municipal, 9-10 million urban), it's small.