A Botswana, a Chinese, an Ethiopian, two Indians, a South African and a Zimbabwean walk into a bar. Technically, a nightclub, POP – Wenzhou hotspot. Its’ lights spill out onto Oujiang Road and lend much needed sparkle to the muddy, dirty Ou River, which would be better renamed the “Ew” river. As with the … More One Night in Wenzhou
I should know better. I’ve lived in Africa. Not in a very long time, yes. But I’ve always re-configured my mind every time I’ve boarded a plane destined for Addis. Even before boarding. As I arrive at the gate, I adjust my expectations, by which I mean I lower them. Yet, there is always the … More Expect Disappointment
Industry moves Wenzhou, to be sure, but ask me what higher form of spirit moves the city, and I couldn’t tell you. I miss the sound of the muezzin that can be heard from our home, or anybody’s home no matter their location, in the city of Addis, in the early hours of the morning … More Spirit
There are more lions guarding buildings of all kinds in Wenzhou China, than in all of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, capital city of the former seat of the Conquering Lion of Judah. They are usually carved of stone (although a “gold” pair have been seen), of varying levels of detail and grandeur, but always of two … More Lions and Other Commonalities
The taxis in Wenzhou will rarely go out of their way for you if your desired destination is outside their preferred radii of operation. They do, however, reserve their right to pick up additional passengers along the way to where you’re going. Hitting two birds with one stone. Hitting a foreign bird, even better, because … More Taxi!
As the days go by, feeling more and more that the invisible shield that I carried with me from “back home”, that protected me from feeling the alienating impact of the expressionless stares is starting to wear off. I will soon feel like I did in the early days, keenly aware of the stares and … More I Heart Headphones
In a city renowned for its seafood, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a lemon or a lime. Walk up and down the length of a fish market in your neighborhood, inhaling the putrid air, and you might stop once or twice on sighting small green round things. But they are some family of orange, certainly … More No lemons in fishland.
Anyone knows better than to provoke a bride on her wedding day, and anyone knows better than to take an unauthorized picture of her. Unless you are the hired photographer, family or an invited guest, you know better. But if you are an Arab or White guest of the Addis Ababa Sheraton – one of … More Photonappers.
Somehow the staring is more tolerable when it is directed at you after you return from a place where everyone may not have thought like you but certainly looked like you, and where the stares were of a knowing nature, rather than blank and expressionless. The silliness, absurdity, even the pathetic nature of it becomes … More Look: Diaspora!
One of the ways to get to Mainland China from Hong Kong is by bus. When you exit Hong Kong and pass through customs at the border bus depot, you file into the line marked “Visitors”. A short bus ride later, when you cross over into China through Shenzhen, you file into the line marked … More Chinese Crossovers
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