FeedYou are browsing all 3 articles tagged with 'overheard'
October 26, 2007
Come here, Shanghai. Sit down. We need to talk.
Look, this is hard for me to say, because I care so much about you, but... you've changed. You're not the same as you used to be. The glitzy nights, the endless opening parties... the camera crews, for God's sake! Do we need all that to have a nice time together?
Sure, I'm not the dashing lad I used to be, but I'd like to think I've kept some of my original rapscallion charm. And I've learned to appreciate the spectrum of experiences there are to be had in this world.
Sometimes a dive bar is fun -- but it seems like you'd like to forget that part of you ever existed. And don't call those Potemkin nights on Tongren Road the same thing.
Or what about a botanical garden? A Chinese opera? You traded all that in for Dino Beach and the Lion King. I know that stuff is still inside you somewhere, but it's getting harder and harder to find.
The sad truth is, I sometimes slip away to Suzhou or Hangzhou, just for some time away from you. But even now you, in your jealousy and spitefulness, are making plans to draw them into your pearl-encrusted entourage.
Beijing's still got some of that chaotic exuberance, that lust for life. Maybe Beijing would understand me better. Or Hong Kong, now there's some class -- OK OK, don't get angry. I'm sorry I said it. Put down the sharp building and let's just think about it for a little while, all right?
Look, this is hard for me to say, because I care so much about you, but... you've changed. You're not the same as you used to be. The glitzy nights, the endless opening parties... the camera crews, for God's sake! Do we need all that to have a nice time together?
Sure, I'm not the dashing lad I used to be, but I'd like to think I've kept some of my original rapscallion charm. And I've learned to appreciate the spectrum of experiences there are to be had in this world.
Sometimes a dive bar is fun -- but it seems like you'd like to forget that part of you ever existed. And don't call those Potemkin nights on Tongren Road the same thing.
Or what about a botanical garden? A Chinese opera? You traded all that in for Dino Beach and the Lion King. I know that stuff is still inside you somewhere, but it's getting harder and harder to find.
The sad truth is, I sometimes slip away to Suzhou or Hangzhou, just for some time away from you. But even now you, in your jealousy and spitefulness, are making plans to draw them into your pearl-encrusted entourage.
Beijing's still got some of that chaotic exuberance, that lust for life. Maybe Beijing would understand me better. Or Hong Kong, now there's some class -- OK OK, don't get angry. I'm sorry I said it. Put down the sharp building and let's just think about it for a little while, all right?
October 17, 2007
So I'm in the gym changing my clothes and this older Chinese man, maybe 70 years old, asks me "How long have you been in China?"
So I say "a year", as I get ready for the standard stream of questions. He comes back with "Do you have a Chinese girl yet?" to which I reply "No, I'm too busy". He laughs and says "You shouldn't waste your opportunities." I tell him "I keep my eyes open", he returns with "Just your eyes?" I try to sneak one by him with "I keep my heart open too." However he shuts me down with "Yeah, but you've got to use your hands and lips."
Game, Set, Match.
So I say "a year", as I get ready for the standard stream of questions. He comes back with "Do you have a Chinese girl yet?" to which I reply "No, I'm too busy". He laughs and says "You shouldn't waste your opportunities." I tell him "I keep my eyes open", he returns with "Just your eyes?" I try to sneak one by him with "I keep my heart open too." However he shuts me down with "Yeah, but you've got to use your hands and lips."
Game, Set, Match.
September 22, 2007
Ha ha ha did you see that crazy guy? He had 200 polystyrene boxes balanced on the back of his bike! And the really miserable guy holding all the inflatable pigs.
And that old woman sitting on the bench next to Ronald McDonald. That's like totally showing the contrast between the old and the new China, man. I wish I had had my camera with me.
And that old woman sitting on the bench next to Ronald McDonald. That's like totally showing the contrast between the old and the new China, man. I wish I had had my camera with me.