Sublime Shanghai
Posted on February 2nd, 2010
A few random pics from my trip to Shanghai a couple of weeks back:
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Exploring asian culture, travel and technology
Hong Kong Cell Carriers Complicit in Chinese Censorship
Posted on February 1st, 2010
A friend of mine noticed something odd while visiting Hong Kong last weekend. Despite Hong Kong not being subject to the heavy internet blocks and censorship on the mainland he still couldn’t get Facebook or Twitter to work on his iPhone (which had international roaming turned on). Hong Kong residents using one of the local providers don’t face any such restrictions and after testing out a few different apps as well as making sure the sites worked fine on a normal laptop we began to become suspicious.
Finding Mr/s Right in China
Posted on January 29th, 2010
For young people in China the pressure to get married (and subsequently have a baby) is often strongly exerted by parents who take every opportunity to nag their children about finding a boyfriend/girlfriend. Men are generally expected to get married by 30 and women by their mid 20′s (25 is considered “old”). The older the child gets the stronger the nagging becomes to the point that going home for spring festival and other occasions becomes a source of dread and anxiety for those still single.
Riding Shanghai Maglev
Posted on January 26th, 2010
I was in Shanghai last weekend for the tail end of a business trip to Wuxi and finally got a chance to ride the experimental high-speed Maglev train from the downtown Longyang Road station to Pudong International Airport.
The First Global Revolution?
Posted on January 20th, 2010
I came across this fascinating diagram in a 1991 report titled ‘The First Global Revolution‘ from the Club of Rome which is a globalist think tank that deals with a variety of international issues.
Strawberry Jam Foshan
Posted on January 18th, 2010
Last weekend I took a trip to Foshan (佛山), a relatively affluent city of around 5 million inhabitants near Guangzhou. As you might imagine from a typical Chinese city there’s not much to write home about architecturally – the same generic mass produces factory boxes adjacent to tasteless villas for the super rich built on once picturesque countryside.
Google Goes Nuclear on China
Posted on January 13th, 2010
Google dropped a bomb on China and the world today when it revealed a string of sophisticated cyber attacks against its infrastructure targeted against human rights activists’ email accounts which had originated from China (similar to the GhostNet attack in 2009). In response Google has decided to cease censoring Google.cn search results (demanded by the government):
Flying Shotgun in a Fokker 70
Posted on January 9th, 2010
It just so happens that my parents neighbour is a pilot and by coincidence it turned out that he was flying the first leg of the flight I was taking back to China (Norwich -> Amsterdam). He very kindly invited me to sit with him and the co-pilot in the cockpit on the “jump seat“ for the journey – I felt like a boy who had been allowed to ride in a fire engine – absolutely awesome!
The aircraft we were flying in was Fokker 70 which is relatively small with only 70 seats and made in the Netherlands. They’re used by KLM for their short-haul cityhopper service. As we were flying at night it was a bit dark to take any good photos (and I definitely didn’t want to use the flash!) but I did get a bit of video (below):
The coolest part was undoubtedly the take-off and landing which is so much more exciting when you’re looking out from the front. Amazingly most aircraft are able to do this all on auto-pilot which they showed me when we landed – totally automatically in thick fog. As we approached the runway it was mesmerizing to see the tops of building poking out of the misty shroud covering the ground.
Pilots clearly have to be very skilled and focused, especially when it comes to flying and eating dinner at the same time! I feel so lucky to have been able to do this, especially considering the fear-mongering around terrorism these days.
2010 More! More! More!
Posted on January 1st, 2010
Looking back at 2009 I’d probably characterize it as my year of travel and exploration in China – I took 24 flights and was privileged to visit and stay in many amazing places I had never been before. Along the way I’ve learnt a huge amount about Chinese culture which continues to fascinate and bewilder me in equal measure. Having become familiar with where things are and how things work, life in Shenzhen has become fairly routine. Given my list of goals last year I thought it was about time to review them and set some new ones for the coming twenty ten:
2009 goals in review:
- Gain basic fluency in Mandarin – failed (while my vocab has improved grammar is still non-existant)
- Improve photography skills – achieved (although I’ve still got a long way to go I’m quite happy with my results recently)
- Get fitter through more regular exercise – moderate improvement (but need to schedule more regular activities)
- Cook more – achieved (and learnt a few new dishes along the way)
- Stay focused and filter out distractions – failed (I read more than ever and have way too many projects on the go)
- Redesign blog template – achieved (you’re looking at it now)
3.5 out of 6 isn’t too bad in my book but the language part is rather frustrating.
2010 goals:
- Create and stick to a schedule for language learning and fitness
- Start a business of some sort and see it through (more on this later)
- Improve writing skills and user participation in blog
- Create more video content and how-to guides
- Visit Japan – something I’ve wanted to do for many years
- Learn how to cope with stress better (and sleep more!)
Finally I’d like to say a BIG thank you to everyone who reads Randomwire – this year traffic has nearly doubled and my only wish is that I had time to write more content for it. In an ideal world I’d love to be able to do this full-time in some capacity but for now it’ll continue as a labour of love blissfully free of ads (although if anyone is interested in sponsorship do get in touch).
As with last year I’ll leave you with an appropriately titled track from the ever-manic Capsule:
A very Happy New Year to all 
A Surprise Christmas
Posted on December 28th, 2009
Having spent Christmas 2008 in China it seemed a bit of a pity to miss out on the festivities for a second year running so I decided to make a last-minute surprise visit home without telling anyone I was coming.
After nearly 20 hours of travelling I flew into Norwich via Amsterdam from Hong Kong on the morning of Christmas Eve and turned up on my parents doorstep shortly before midday. To say people were surprised would be an understatement (luckily none of my family have heart conditions!).
It felt rather weird to be thrust directly into the Christmas spirit without the usual months of buildup which usually proceed it in the UK. It was however much nicer to experience it in person rather than through a Skype webcam session as was last year (however novel it may have been).
Of course food is a big part of Christmas and the traditional turkey is a must. While looking like a big chicken the taste is markedly stronger and more flavourful. As ever my mum excelled herself – the 8,000 mile trip was almost worth it just for this! I often wonder why people only eat turkey once a year…
Coming from the relatively warm south of China to the freezing south-east of the UK was a bit of a shock to the system but being a hardy Brit my body soon adjusted and a few nice walks outside in near zero degree conditions were had. Although there was a bit of snow when I first arrived most of it had thawed after a couple of days.
I have a terrible memory but was happy to find that after nearly a year of not driving that the old skills hadn’t disappeared. I always find it’s weird how your brain is able to learn and retain certain complex things as if they were second nature but for other simpler things it’s near impossible (for me anyway).
I’ll be heading back to China on January 4th so get to enjoy jet lag twice in so many weeks. Hopefully someone will invent a teleportation device before too long!