“Hey, how are you?” The usual question calls for an almost scripted answer: “I’m fine, and you?” Anything above that is also acceptable. But if, God forbid, you feel less than fine, you’d better have a […]
Author: Stan Aron

Critics of Charlie Hebdo miss the point, again
Calling Charlie Hebdo out for making fun of Alan Kurdi makes as much sense as if PolitiFact seriously tried to debunk The Onion Back in March 2014, a 23-year-old twitter activist named Suey Park launched […]

“Les Arabes” ou le chat qu’il ne faut pas appeler un chat
La twittosphère procède à une levée de boucliers aussi ridicule que prévisible face à une agression imaginaire Un nouveau jour, une nouvelle controverse démunie de sens. Tout d’abord, je ne suis pas un supporter du […]
The Cruelty and Controversy of Beijing’s Black Market for Dogs
From poodles to Labradors to Tibetan mastiffs, one cannot walk five minutes along Rixin East Road, in Beijing’s Tongzhou district, without being stopped by someone trying to sell you a dog. But it’s the xingqi quan, or “week-long […]
Gangs of Beijing
A look into Beijing’s tight-knit and diverse communities Part I: Ultras (above) Part II: Cosplayers Part III: Anti-imperialist dancing grannies Cover Story in That’s Beijing, September 2014 issue
Tearing Down Gulou
You know something is up when – as a customer – you have to be smuggled in and out of a bar. The Drum and Bell bar in Gulou looks shut, the curtains are drawn […]