In praise of the English spoken at Chinese McDonald’s outlets.
In case you’ve never had the experience, here’s what it’s like to walk into a Chinese McDonald’s and have the cashier assume – on the basis of your looks – that you’re not Chinese: You are greeted in...
View ArticleConspicuous Consumption, Ningbo Edition: the Case of the Gold Dust Dumpling
The price of gold is currently hovering around a record US$1400/oz, leaving the sensible investor with, as I count them, three options: Buy it. Run from it. Eat it. Per the last option, I direct my...
View ArticleInstant (Noodle) Inflation
How hot is inflation running in China? Fast enough that store clerks at my local convenience store don’t bother to replace the computer-generated price tags for instant noodles at a nearby convenience...
View ArticleRich Gluttons Hold Extravagant Meal at US Embassy, Beijing, Congratulate...
Bear with me, for a moment, as you read a passage from a dispatch now available on The Atlantic’s website: [Alice Waters] put me to work beside her, cutting grilled slices of locally Beijing-made...
View ArticleOther China correspondents write about politics; I write about carp.
It is not lost upon me that this week saw perhaps the biggest political story to emerge from China in two decades. Thus, it only seemed right that my Bloomberg World View column this week would focus...
View ArticleThe More Things Change in China – Hershey’s Chocolate Edition
The other day I was scanning headlines and came across an interesting item: earnings are suffering at Hershey’s chocolate due to a disappointing China performance. That’s not how it was supposed to...
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