Some good pics and insights on current events

There is a great series of articles on China in the year of the Olympics in the Financial Times. I recommend this one on the growing political activism among the middle class. The article recounts a protest against expandinghttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif the Maglev train line through some residential neighborhoods that was going on during the past school year in Shanghai.

There is also an excellent audio slideshow that accompanies the article. You can find the same sort of gated communities with large homes, multicar garages, and golf courses around Beijing. I’ve spent some time in one such place in northern Beijing through a number of sessions tutoring a young girl in her home. Going to her house feels just like stepping into an American suburb. It’s a fairly dull place but the quiet, empty streets and the smell of wet grass provide a pleasant break from the hectic and dirty urban streets that I’m used to. It also brings back memories of suburban life in the States.
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The complex and swiftly changing economy and politics in this country are what make it so fascinating.http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif I have always felt lucky to be born at this time in history, at the inception of the technology age and during a time of relative peace, stability and accelerating globalization. Now I feel further appreciative of the chance to be living in this spot on the globe, where I am witnessing such a tumultuous charge towards modernity at an immense scale.

Finally, I recommend checking out these pictures (and more) on the Boston Globe's website. Next to being there in person, it’s the best up close look you can find on China. I also recommend these diving pictures.