Note: Just a heads up, at one point I drop the F-bomb about ten times. I also sing. Just letting you know in case you find that (the singing) offensive.

Related posts:

1. Graduation Day
2. Usher and Ethan
3. Treatment of Children

Update: I realized I mentioned “scantily clad Chinese girls” in my podcast and I failed to deliver any visual representations of those aforementioned subjects. So in the interest of good journalism, here are some photos from the festival:



Is it me, or is she a little bit cross-eyed? She looks like a Chinese Cheri Oteri.

Related posts:

1. Usher and Ethan
2. Graduation Day
3. I Don’t Give A Figgity Figgity Figgity What?

This weekend I’m heading to Qingdao for their international beer festival. So expect a post about that when I get back, hopefully with a lot of photos.

Then next week the company that hired me is bringing in about 90 new foreign English teachers and they asked me to help train them. I’m hoping to meet some cool new people and I’m sure I’ll have some thoughts about the experience, which you’ll get to hear in a tangent-filled podcast.

And then the following weekend, I’ll be studying and taking a test to receive my TEFL certification.

I’m going to be pretty busy so if you don’t get any updates for the next week or so, that’s why. But once it calms down I’ll have a bunch of good stuff to post.

And by the way, it’s Friday the 13th! I don’t really remember what’s supposed to happen on Friday the 13th…you have to be careful or there’s bad luck or something something superstition? Whatever it is, watch out.

And one more thing, remember to visit www.chinarchy.com/helpout and you can enter to win a $25 Amazon gift card. Do it…

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1. Hello From McCoy

Here’s an excerpt:

Shanghai has a cosmopolitan, big-city feel but there is also something quite unique about it. The architecture is simply fascinating – check out some of the photos below to see the stunning skyline. There are some buildings that look like they came straight out of a sci-fi movie, while others have clearly not been renovated in many years.

As cool as it was to see the futuristic element of Shanghai, my favorite part of the time we spent there was wandering through back alleys and random neighborhoods, seeing how average people lived. It was shocking in some ways – for such a developed city, people were living in sparse and often dilapidated apartments. In one area, I noticed that the sewage system was an exposed pipe near the front door.

We did have one sobering encounter with a little boy, which I still struggle with when I think about it.

We were leaving the Jade Buddha Temple (which is really just a huge, ridiculous farce that I will cover in another blog post) and heading to lunch when a little boy, about 10 years old, started walking beside us. His face was filthy and his shirt was covered in dirt and he was giving us the saddest look I’ve ever seen.

The boy clearly wanted money, and was clearly experienced at begging for it. Even after being told no, he kept pace with us, repeating the same phrases in Chinese over and over again. At one point, he stuck a finger down his throat, I assume to indicate that he was hungry. I could feel my stomach starting to turn.

It’s not that I’ve never encountered a beggar before. I’ve lived in New York City and Washington, D.C., so I’ve met my fair share of homeless, desperate people, some more heartbreaking than others. But this was the first time I’d been approached by a begging child. It was horrible.

To read the rest, head over to IASISK.

Related posts:

1. Shanghai Photos
2. “The Most Frustrating Thing About Teaching: Parents”

August 8, 2009 I was sitting in my apartment and thinking about the possibility of going to China and came up with the idea for this website. It would be another 6 months before I actually ended up in Beijing and began writing (which I guess would be considered Chinarchy’s birthday).

In order to celebrate this glorious day of conception I’m giving away a $25 Amazon gift card to whoever helps me introduce the most new people to the blog. To find out more head over to http://www.chinarchy.com/helpout/.

And also, I just want to thank everybody who has been reading for the past six months. If it wasn’t for you guys I would have quit this blog a long time ago. Thank you.

Update: I figured I’d throw in some nerd proof. “Record created on 2009-08-09 21:40:06.”

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1. Friday the 13th
2. A Quick Story on Why Democracy Sucks and Introduction to a New Series
3. Would You Listen To An Audio Post?

In three short videos he covers the basics of living in China, including the economy, standard of living, working, dealing with the state, and the people and culture.

He’s about ten thousand times more succinct and on point than I manage to be, so I’m sure you’ll enjoy that.

My favorite video is the third, “People and Culture Shock.” Pretty much everything he says is right on target. I would qualify his observations by saying that they are less true in the major cities, Beijing and Shanghai, than for the other parts of China, although they still apply.

Anyway, enjoy.

Related posts:

1. IASISK – Shanghai
2. China Puts The “Jew” In Juice
3. Shanghai Photos

Note: It’s forty-eight minutes long. Forty-eight minutes of baller. Don’t hate.

Related posts:

1. Graduation Day
2. Treatment of Children
3. I Don’t Give A Figgity Figgity Figgity What?

The jade factory was interesting, but it was mostly focused on selling you jade jewelry. We saw about 10% factory and 90% shopping area. Still, a lot of the stuff was pretty cool. A couple of us managed to get some raw jade from one of the workers, so we got a nice souvenir without having to buy some of the overpriced jewelry.

Check out the photos below.

Related posts:

1. Shanghai Photos
2. Dogs of Chende
3. Artsy Photographs From Xingcheng

Below is the gallery of the Shanghai photos; I’ll post the Great Wall photos shortly. Also, I’m hoping to have another podcast recorded tonight, so wish me luck motivating myself to do that.

As far as these photos go, I skipped the normal method of describing each one. Because I took so many I just have them in gallery form, so click each one and you’ll get a short description of what it is.

The only thing that warrants explanation is the creepy psychedelic tunnel photos. They are from a gondola lift ride that goes underneath the Huangpu River. It was so weird.

I’ll talk more about what Shanghai was like in the podcast, but for now, just check out the photos.

Related posts:

1. IASISK – Shanghai
2. Jade Factory and Badaling
3. Dogs of Chende

Thanks to everybody to pointed this out. You can see it here.

Also, I still swear that we will award a winner for the best caption at some point in our lives.

Related posts:

1. China Puts The “Jew” In Juice
2. Caption Contest: Ass Hair Salon
3. What’s Been Going On…