Dave’s Wagon

In response to my last post, reader Xiaoniu commented with this set of images (one, two, three) of some rather strikingly blue skies during his trip to Beijing. While they’re not quite as photogenic as the postcards I showed, they do come very close. I would much appreciate it if any readers with Beijing experience […]

Here’s a little something I whipped up: a comparison between the postcards I bought in Beijing and the actual photos I took at each landmark.
True, I was only in Beijing for three days, but I saw enough to know that the sky is never as blue that low on the horizon as the postcard images […]

Our group took the train to Beijing. It was a fourteen hour ride, but I’m glad we did it.
I can sum up how important passenger trains have become back in the U.S. with the observation that the ride reminded me more of Harry Potter than Amtrak. Trains were once the cornerstone of the American experience, […]

I just returned from a weekend excursion to Beijing. After I finish coughing up the last wad of soot-filled phlegm and get myself a good night’s sleep, I’ll begin posting a recap of my visit to the Land of 10,000 Tower Cranes.

Back in the States, I would often throw pennies away. Literally. I threw them right into the garbage. I told myself I was helping to fight inflation or to introduce poisonous levels of copper and zinc into the local water supply. In reality, a coin valued at one cent just wasn’t worth the hassle to […]