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CHANGING CURRENTS
20 YEARS of REFLECTIONS
BIRDS IN CHINA - PHOTOS
CYCLING to XANADU
THE CHINESE DREAM
CHINESE NEW YEAR ADS
The MEDIUM, the MESSAGE and the SAUSAGE DOG
ANYONE FOR TENNIS?
VIEWS FROM ABOARD THE CHINA EXPRESS:
1 Zola and Retail Marketing
2 Playing the Waiting Game
3 Beware the Ides of March
4 The county not on a map
5 Chinese Chess in Beijing
6 Build it and They'll Come
7 Riding the Water Dragon
8 The Best of Both Worlds
9 Storming the Great Wall
10 Welcome to the Wangba
11 The Catcher in the Rice
12 The Marriage Business
13 The Crouching Dragon
14 Counting the Numbers
15 A Century of Migration
16 Shooting for the Stars
17 Rise of Yorkshire Puds
18 Harry Potter in Beijing
19 Standing Out in China
20 Self-pandactualisation
21 Strolling on the Moon
22 Tea with the Brothers
23 Animated Guangzhou
24 Trouble on the Farms
25 Christmas in Haerbin
26 Dave pops into Tesco
27 A Breath of Fresh Air
28 The Boys from Brazil
29 Rolls-Royce on a roll
30 The Great Exhibition
31 Spreading the Word
32 On Top of the World
33 Moonlight Madness
34 Beijing's Wild West
35 Avatar vs Confucius
36 Brand Ambassadors
37 Inspiring Adventure
38 China's Sweet Spot
39 Spinning the Wheel
40 Winter Wonderland
41 The End of the Sky
42 Ticket to Ride High
43 Turning the Corner
44 Trouble in Toytown
45 Watch with Mother
46 Red-crowned Alert
47 In a Barbie World
48 Domestic Arrivals
49 Tale of Two Taxis
50 Land of Extremes
51 Of 'Mice' and Men
52 Tour of the South
53 Brooding Clouds?
54 The Nabang Test
55 Guanxi Building
56 Apple Blossoms
57 New Romantics
58 The Rose Seller
59 Rural Shanghai
60 Forbidden Fruit
61 Exotic Flavours
62 Picking up Pace
63 New Year, 2008
64 Shedding Tiers
65 Olympic Prince
66 London Calling
67 A Soulful Song
68 Paradise Lost?
69 Brandopolises
70 Red, red wine
71 Finding Nemo
72 Rogue Dealer
73 Juicy Carrots
74 Bad Air Days
75 Golden Week
76 Master Class
77 Noodle Wars
78 Yes We Can!
79 Mr Blue Sky
80 Keep Riding
81 Wise Words
82 Hair Today
83 Easy Rider
84 Aftershock
85 Bread vans
86 Pick a card
87 The 60th
88 Ox Tales
CHARTS
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2018
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2016
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2009
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2001 to 2007
BIRDING in CHINA
PORTS of CALL
FROM BEYOND THE WALL
ABOUT

Market stall trader

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From nuclear fallout shelter to market stalls

China never lets you down.  It provides any writer with an inexhaustible supply of material that is stranger than fiction.  Wherever you go, you are certain to be within striking distance of a “China moment”: a jaw-droppingly surreal encounter.  I knew I was in for a treat when I entered Haerbin’s subterranean marketplace.  Sprawling eastwards from the railway station, the vast grotto houses several hundred market stalls.  These days, you can buy anything from a pirated Amy Winehouse or Leona Lewis CD to a “Gucci” or “LV” bag.  Almost 50 years ago, though, during one of the frostier periods of Sino-Russian relations – when the gigantic egos of Khrushchev and Mao collided – this cavern was a nuclear fallout shelter.  The only fallout to have contaminated this place, however, was in 1997 when 67 officials were found guilty of accepting bribes associated with the shelter’s conversion to a shopping mall.  The sorry episode, which directly or indirectly led to the mysterious death of Zhu Shengwen, a senior official, was even made into a TV mini-series.  

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Miss Zheng, a 23 year-old market stall trader from the city of Jiamusi, east of Haerbin, has decided to focus on selling Santa Clauses and other things for children.  “The kids love them,” she enthuses.  “I used to be into CDs but everyone’s jumped on that bandwagon, and what’s more, the authorities are clamping down on the trade.”  Miss Zheng’s eyes burn with revolutionary zeal as she talks about her switch from “jiade” (fake) CDs to “zhende” (authentic) Santa Clauses and the like.  Christmas is big business in China, even though most children and market traders are a long way from appreciating the finer points of the festival.  According to Miss Zheng’s version of the Christmas Story, Santa Claus was born in a stable…

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Santa Claus is coming to town!

Hutong dwellers