Blogroll
Blogs I like
Books and reading
Cooking and Eating
Web sites I visit
-
Recent Posts
Archives
- July 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- November 2016
- October 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- February 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
-
-
Categories
Twitter Updates
- Shouting from the rooftops - would it help me learn Chinese? wp.me/pXs16-l7 5 years ago
- @daisygoodwinuk Have you read 'The Rules of Civility' by Amor Towles? I'd recommend that. 5 years ago
- I was there the cake was awesome - 7kgs of chocolate in it I was told! 5 years ago
- I'm feeling crabby - the hairy crabs are in town, read about them on my blog. 6 years ago
- Back in Beijing after 3 weeks in the UK - fighting jet-lag. 6 years ago
Category Archives: Book reviews
The Year of the Shanghai Shark
It is ages since I wrote a book review, about time I remedied that! The Year of the Shanghai Shark by Mo Zhi Hong is a wonderful lighthearted yet thoughtful depiction of an adolescent growing up in modern China. The … Continue reading
Posted in Book reviews
Tagged basketball, Chinese adolescents, Chinese gambling, Dalian, gambling, IELTS, Mahjong, pickpockets, Shanghai Sharks
Leave a comment
On the Noodle Road: from Beijing to Rome with Love and Pasta
When the domestic exchequer is empty and the summer holidays are still some way off, there is nothing better than making yourself comfortable and doing some armchair travelling. I have recently enjoyed travelling vicariously from China to Italy over the … Continue reading
Posted in Book reviews, Food & Drink
Tagged Central Asian food, Chinese food, Emilia-Romagna food, Iranian cuisine, Italian pasta, Kazakhstan food, Kyrgystan food, noodles, pasta, Persian cuisine, plov, Puglia food, recipes, rice, travel writing, Turkish cuisine, Turkmenistan food, Uzbeckistan food
4 Comments
Women only – Nǚshū – a secret language
In this more and more globalised, interconnected world, certain languages are becoming increasingly dominant – English (or a variation of it) seems to be spoken just about everywhere – and ‘minor’ languages with fewer speakers are slowly dying if not … Continue reading
Posted in Book reviews, Uncategorized
Tagged Chinese history, Laotong, nushu, San Chao Shu, secret language, Sworn sisters, Third Day Book, women's language
6 Comments
Hanging Devils
I love reading crime fiction. Since my teenage years I’ve worked my way through many of the great and lesser writers in the genre, from Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Raymond Chandler, Ed McBain, and John D Macdonald all the way … Continue reading
Posted in Book reviews
Tagged Chinese crime fiction, Chinese fiction, Chinese legal system, Crime fiction, He Jiahong, Helongjian
2 Comments
My Thank Less task
A year or so ago my teacher Annie told me that I was doing something that most English-speaking westerners do – which is not usual in China – I was saying ‘thank you” too often. I didn’t really take much … Continue reading
Posted in Book reviews, Uncategorized
Tagged cultural norms, gratitude, please, politeness, thank you, xie xie
11 Comments
The Year of the Dragon 龙年
Chinese New Year is almost upon us and we leave behind the Year of the Rabbit and enter the Year of the Dragon 龙年 (long nian). The Dragon is the only mythical beast in the Chinese zodiac and unlike dragons … Continue reading
