Purple Beijing!: From Imperial Hutong to Designer High Rise

December 20, 2010

BEIJING, CHINA –  Beijing is a city whose grand, imperial past is inseparable from its sprawling, concrete-jungle present. At its founding, the emperor’s throne in the magnificent Forbidden City was placed precisely at the city’s dead center, while surrounding neighborhoods were coaxed into concentric circles around it, ensuring a master-planned… (more)

Colossal complexes of glass, but still a heart of gold in Beijing

August 18, 2008

BEIJING, CHINA – Beijing. It’s an interesting place for me – I lived here for a year, studying Mandarin from 2004-5. During that time, I made relationships with not only my classmates but also with a professional expat crowd (predominantly Americans), and with these groups of friends, I explored and… (more)