(Dear reader: It is said that there’s no sound so precious as that of one’s own name. Then imagine my surprise and emotions when years ago I was introduced to a large audience of Chinese students as “Mr. Joke.”  Somehow, … Read more

This legacy post from May 2013 serves as a helpful backgrounder for the first-time reader of this writer’s work in China.   On this rainy Saturday in old Chongqing my host students take me to visit an ancient restored village … Read more

  To China this time I have brought the Soul of America. Literally, in the form of Jon Meacham’s new bestseller of the same name, subtitled, “The Battle for Our Better Angels.” The jacket notes explain, “We have been here … Read more

  A Chongqing photo portfolio; a work-in-progress. Scenes from spring commencement with students posing proudly in front of the library or leaping for joy by the iconic “Book of Law” at Southwest University of Political Science and Law remind us … Read more

While it’s only been two years since I was here last, it’s a different China in 2019. Trump is in the White House, Xi is president for life, there’s a trade war going on and China thinks its winning. The … Read more

“Travel is a journey into one’s own ignorance.” So writes American travel writer Frances Mayes. Truer words never spoken — especially if that travel takes you to the Middle Kingdom, a place so radically different from the U.S. — in … Read more