Home is where…?

I came across this quote by Stuart, a British Born Chinese (BBC) in Race and ethnicity: culture, identity and representation By Steve Spencer. It reminded me of the saying, “Home is where the heart is.”

I was born in England in Leicester, spent most of my life
in the UK, went over to HK when I was about seven for a year so I
adapted to the culture then, but most of my life I’ve been in the UK.
But I feel that – even though I’ve only lived in HK for a year, in my
heart I still feel Chinese. I have friends in HK who are totally
Chinese, when they come to England they want to be English – even
though their experience of life is Chinese – they want to be English,
wheres me I’m opposite: I’m totally English behaviour and in my heart
it’s very Chinese.

This got me wondering, Is the heart always where the home is? Thanks to @alicialiu for the quote.

Marlboro on NeochaEDGE

I’ve recently discovered NeochaEDGE, a site which describes itself as “a daily-curated, bilingual website and discovery engine dedicated to showcasing leading-edge creative content and emerging youth culture in China.” I wouldn’t claim to be an avid follower of emerging youth culture, but I have discovered a couple of great music tracks on the site, the first of which is Marlboro. Many thanks to @ajschokora for highlighting both NeochaEDGE and Marboro.

Artist’s Profile: http://www.neocha.com/Marlboro

What Determines our Diet?

Cho Jung's Ginseng Chicken Soup by TaekwonweirdoLast Friday, my wife decided to make chicken soup for dinner. No, not the creamy, open a can and heat it up chicken soup, this was the take a whole chicken and boil it chicken soup.

Now, I am not one to take my wife’s cooking for granted. She does more than her fair share and I don’t know how I’d survive without her. This meal was no exception and it was one of the best chicken soups I’ve ever had. But, at the end of the meal, we came to the comical realisation that we had eaten from the wrong bowls. Let me explain.

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Brits Get Rich in China

“Once upon a time there were three businessmen: Vance Miller, a gunslinger if ever I saw one; Peter Williams, who was 70, military and starchy; and Tony Caldeira, who was big in cushions until the bottom fell out. They all decided to try their luck in China.” – Nancy Banks-Smith (The Guardian, Tuesday 29 May 2007)

I thought this was a wonderful show. Funny, insightful, and educational all rolled into one. You can watch the full show (7 parts) over on YouTube.

You can also find an interview with Vance Miller by Christine Lu (@ChristineLu) over on the China Business Network.

Monkey (猴): Journey to the West

Photo by 水泳男Now showing at the O2 in London is Monkey (猴): Journey to the West, a show based on the 16th Century Chinese novel “Journey to the West” (西游记), by Wu Cheng’en (吴承恩). The show is directed by Chen Shi-Zheng (陈士铮), composed by Damon Albarn with visual design by Jamie Hewlett. Last Tuesday we went along to see the Show.

Alicia is no stranger to the story of Monkey as it is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature but, for me, it was completely new. As a result we both had a different reaction to the show but surprisingly ended up giving it the same rating.

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