Beijing XI: Taobao Girls
She is holding the latest Samsung phone with her shoulder, briskly taps the iPad in her lap and dangles a cigarette in between her fingers. “Lily, here’s your mojito,” I say.
Manya Koetse
Frozen ‘Let it Go’ Sing-a-Long in Mandarin
A great way to learn Mandarin as a beginner, or study new words and keep them in your head as an intermediate learner, is to sing-a-long.
Bringing Worlds Together – ‘New World (Shinsekai Story)’ and ‘Fly me to Minami’ by filmmaker Lim Kah Wai
Producer and director Lim Kah Wai is an expert in bringing worlds together in his films. Having worked and lived in both Japan and China, his deep connection with these countries becomes apparent through his work.
Sinterklaas & Zwarte Piet- Who Do We Think They Are?
The celebration of the Saint Nicholas festival and the Dutch ‘Sinterklaas’ practices have survived for the last 500 years. Despite the strength of the tradition, disagreement about it has almost become a tradition in itself.
Talk to Type Chinese – Baidu Gets What You Mean
Voice recognition has been around for years, but those who use smartphones probably have found themselves frustrated and screaming at Iphone’s ‘Siri’.
Japan State of Mind
There is something magical about a travel state of mind. There seems to be no past and no future, everything evolves around the present and what you see right now, where you will eat and what the plan for the day is.
Top 10 Apps for Studying Chinese
Countless apps have emerged over the years that will help you improve your Chinese. This top 10 is my personal list of favorite apps
Review: Reconstructing Postwar Sino-Japanese Relations
Sino-Japanese Relations after World War II: Abnormal Historical Process and Construction, a review of the book by Liu Jianping.
Shanghai Baby: Beyond China- A Chinese Novel Banished to the West
“My name is Nikki but my friends all call me Coco after Coco Chanel, a French lady who lived to be almost ninety. She’s my idol, after Henry Miller. Every morning when I open my eyes I wonder what I can do to make myself famous. It’s become my ambition, almost my raison d’être, to burst upon the city like fireworks. “
Mao’s Honger Naar Macht
Op een zomerse dag in 1958 lag Mao Zedong aan zijn zwembad in Beijing. Het was de beginperiode van Mao’s Grote Stap Voorwaarts, een project dat China binnen vijftien jaar een grotere macht dan Groot-Brittannië moest maken.
The ‘Magic’ of Memory: Chinese and Japanese Re-Remembrances of the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945)
More than 60 years have gone by since the Second Sino-Japanese war. Although time has moved on, the war is still very much alive in memory and affect Sino-Japanese relations to this day.
Gendered Nationalism and May Fourth: China’s ‘New Woman’
The May Fourth Movement (1915-24) is also referred to as the Chinese Enlightenment or the Chinese Renaissance. It is the cultural revolution that was brought about by the political demonstrations on the fourth of May 1919
Beyond the Whale – Japan, The West & The Whaling Issue
The whaling issue is not that black and white; there’s more to ‘the whale’ than the whale alone. Why did the Japanese start whaling? And why didn’t they stop?
From Gal to Lady – Gender, Language and Japan’s Kogals
It has been since the middle of the 1990s that a new trend in Japanese women’s language emerged. This new type of slang was used by girls that were labeled “kogals”.
Crossing the Borders of Gender In China
What does it mean to be a woman in China? What does it mean to be gay? What does sexuality, in general, stand for in Chinese society?
‘Stick Out Your Tongue’ : A Banned Book on the Health of a Nation
Stick Out Your Tongue, originally Stick out your tongue or you’ll have nothing (亮 出你的舌苔或空空荡荡) was first published in China in 1987. The book, a collection of five short stories, depicts Tibet in an exotic and sexualized way, and evoked strong reactions from both Chinese as Tibetan people.
The ‘Magic’ of Memory: China and its Re-Remembrance of War
More than 60 years have gone by since the Second Sino-Japanese war. Although time has moved on, the war is still very much alive in the thoughts of the Chinese.
Local Rape, Global Issue: One Rape and Marginalization in Okinawa and Beyond
In September 1995, a 12-year-old Okinawan schoolgirl was raped by three US servicemen, not far from the military bases on the island. The incident caused great commotion in Okinawa and Japan, and this outrage quickly raised the debate concerning the presence of US bases in Japan.
The Imagined Space of ‘Chinatown’
Throughout the 20th century, the concept of ‘Chinatown’ has not failed to stir our imaginations. Many books and films evolve around this part of the city, whether the city is New York, London, Vancouver or Amsterdam
Taiwan & The Other
It is very hard to identify one China and define what that one China would be, since China has got many faces. Taiwan is one of those faces of China. The terms “Taiwanese” or “Chinese” have different meanings for different people, and the meaning can also change over time.