Yesterday I woke up with a pleasant surprise – the first snow this winter. It was the first one to have since moving to this neighbourhood, and the view from my flat towards the north was great. Trains were delayed but still running thankfully, but in the evening, no home-bound services. There were no trains […]
When I was told to come to the Hopewell Centre for a meeting this afternoon, it did not ring a bell to me that this was the tower that housed the famous revolving bar/restaurant on the 62nd floor. The name sounded familiar from the moment I read it, but I suppose I must have completely […]
To me, Hong Kong is like my first love. It’s a city where I used to live for some years when I was young. Although Hong Kong has changed substantially since then, it still retains areas that are associated with my childhood memory. For instance, whenever I approach Hong Kong University campus on Bonham Road, […]
Guangzhou is busy with the preparation for the Guangzhou Asian Games that will take place in November. Some people in Guangzhou say the timing is not good, as the opening of the Games is only a few days after the completion of the Shanghai Expo. In any case, lots of construction works and beautification […]
My official schedule in Guangzhou is over as of tonight. Just came back from giving a guest lecture on Olympic Games and Mega-event Politics to the students at the School of Urban Planning and Geography. When I gave talk on the same topic to some students at the School of Government a few days ago, […]
Today, I had a walk around one of the study sites in Guangzhou. The area was completely empty of its residents, as the whole area is now being demolished. I will talk more about this at a later date, but for now, I could not resist my smile when I first saw this rather cute […]
Somehow last time in Guangzhou was also in September. This time again, I am spending three weeks in this city. I must have forgotten about the heat and humidity – no, to be exact, the cool/cold London weather must have tainted my memory, and forged my thought that it was not too bad, and that […]
Belated posting this time. When I paid a visit to Wudaoying in Beijing (see my earlier posting below), I was having a quick rest (meaning that I had a bottle of cold beer…) at this cafe somewhere half way into Wudaoying hutong. It was a three-storey building, and from the owner, I was told that […]
While driving in a taxi to go to the Guangzhou Book Center on Sunday, I had an interesting chat with the taxi driver. Having heard that I am a South Korean, he was obviously making some jokes and teasing me with various questions. One of the questions, after a brief exchange of views about the […]
Due to some complicated (but not so complicated) reasons, I had to come to Guangzhou via Hong Kong. On my way from Kowloon airport express train station to Hung Hom station where I could take my train to Guangzhou, I happened to catch this amazing sight – an army of cranes. In May 2009 when […]