Bridget O'Donnell

See more of Ramses’ adventures here.

Seen at the Summer Palace yesterday: Note: This is definitely not the first time I’ve seen large groups of senior citizens dancing in unison in public places in China.

This past Wednesday, June 16 was Dragonboat Festival Day (端午节 “duānwǔjié”). Yes, this is an actual holiday. According to tradition, you watch dragonboat (端午 “duānwǔ”) races and eat zòngzi (粽子—sweet rice dumplings). Without going into too much history, the festival basically celebrates Qu Yuan, a famous scholar and poet who drowned himself in a river. [...]

The other day, I made an impulse buy. But unlike most of my impulse buys, this one is actually useful: You know how people say everything is cheaper in China? Well, it’s true. You will never guess how much I paid for this (slightly ok-kind-of-really worn) contraption. $100, you say? Psh. Please. Lower.

It’s that time of the decade again for the media to question why Americans are disinterested in a sport the rest of the world is so passionate about. But while you all back at home get to see that tired story be recycled through the American news stream, I’m busy catching every game at any [...]

Here in Beijing, I haven’t yet purchased a dish-drying rack because I keep forgetting to search for them when I go to the supermarket. So, my temporary strategy for cleaning dishes has been to handwash them first, then dry them with a towel and leave them along the wide windowsill in my kitchen. Here’s why [...]

Awkward moments in the Chinese language