China Segment

And so it comes again, the beginning of a new Chinese lunar calendar. And with it, fresh gales from the North, as if Siberia itself was bearing down on us here in Shanghai. 春节, Spring Festival, is a misnomer in my opinion. Every year it’s unspeakably cold for this region, and though [...]

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The other day I was talking to a friend here. She’s not going home for Spring Festival. She can’t afford it.
It’s not the train ticket that she can’t afford, or the time off work - every business pretty much shuts down over the break, save for restaurants and hotels. She can’t afford [...]

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For some reason, China doesn’t have ‘em. Which makes for interesting discussions about money. Who’s bank account should our money be kept in? My wife’s or mine?
For those of you confused, women in Shanghai often control the purse strings of their men. Whoever makes money in the family turns it over [...]

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In China, money goes far.
Ceremony and ritual go even further.
At our wedding in Shanghai, Rachel’s aunt prepped me outside the apartment for how to give hongbaos (read: bribe) to Rachel’s family members inside. She had kindly gone to the bank for me to get crisp 20 RMB notes - yes, her family was kind [...]

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