Orwell's motives for writing in the blog age – by Alec Ash

On Tuesday the 18th, 8pm at iQiYi cafe opposite the Bookworm, I'm on the panel for Blogging China, part of the Bookworm literary festival. It should be a free ranging discussion of English language blogs about China, hosted by Anthony Tao from Beijing Cream, with Mia Li from Sinosphere, Tao Stein, and Jeremy Goldkorn.

George Orwell, in his essay Why I Write, said there are four motives for writing of any kind: (i) Sheer egoism, (ii) Aesthetic enthusiasm, (iii) Historical impulse, and (iv) Political purpose. I figured I'd do the same for why I blog.

Enlightenment is just a short queue away – by Elijah Dove

Even after living in China and Korea for more than eight years, being bombarded with ads for skin whitening creams, seeing people wear arm sleeves and carry sun umbrellas, and hearing them constantly compare skin colour, I’m still surprised at just how important women consider pale skin in terms of beauty. There's even a Chinese saying, 一白遮百丑 (yībáizhēbǎichǒu) – “white skin covers up a hundred flaws”.

Comedy in China – a Q&A with Jesse Appell

The good, the bad, and the ugly – by Sam Duncan

The taxi system in Daqing, a city in China’s far northeast famous for its oil fields nearby, is an interesting beast. Drivers are in theory required to use their meters and not allowed to share rides, but in reality most fares are negotiated, whether the flag falls or not, and drivers will always want to pick up extra passengers along the way. It’s pretty fair, though. If you know the usual fare to your destination you can usually save a couple of kuai; if the driver picks someone else up you can use this to renegotiate the fare; and if you get in a taxi which already has passengers in it you know you can ask for a lower fare than usual.