Just Call Me The Berkeley-Beijing Axis.

A mystical valley of Chinese provenance.


Am back, like the resurrection of the fucking Christ. Beijing is a crazy, tiring city, a lot of fun, but a lot of work.

So, this is what I learned:

*Beijing has amazing sushi.

*Rickshaw drivers really, really want to take you to your hotel for a lot of money.

*A program of 24 hour construction on hundreds of highrises is bad for the air. (There is going to be a mortarium on construction in Beijing for the year prior to the Olympics, so they are going full bore up until the deadline. There are miles and miles of empty skins, waiting for their guts. It's surreal.)

*Little kids like to practice their English.

*Lane markers on Chinese highways are sort of vague recommendation for position, particularly if you are a giant truck.

*The Beijing art scene is wonderful and legit.

*There are several systems for the Romanization of Chinese words (using western letters to spell Chinese words, in other, uh, words), and when your map uses one and the street signs of Beijing use another, you are in for a long, long walk.

*Chopstick shops are big business, I guess that's not really that surprising, but the concept of the chopstick showroom wasn't one I was prepared for.

*The warriors who manned The Great Wall must have had tight, pert buttocks with all that stairclimbing. Seriously.

*It's the Chinese's century. It really is. Good luck, guys. Unblock Blogger in the meantime.

Friend Dave manned the Mojo Nixon interview and did an amazing job. Will be posted soon.

If you're one of my countrypeople, Happy Thanksgiving. If you are a North American of a boreal dispostion, happy belated Thanksgiving. Everyone else, have a swell Thursday or Friday per local custom.