What’s wrong with this picture?
Interesting discussion by Simon Winchester on a book tour in China. It captures a sense of how deeply strange it can be to be there, and how you can suddenly be expected to engage in the kind of public discussion that you’d ordinarily want to prepare for (this happened to my daughter, too, who was unexpectedly taken with another newly arrived colleague to what turned out to be a training session for teachers from outside of Beijing. The young man just left, and she tried to do the best she could, but apparently it didn’t go well). Two other things that struck me. First, why is no one in this library? Bookstores in Beijing are constantly crowded. This place (where I’ve never been) is empty, to a first approximation.
Secondly, who decided to title his book on Joseph Needham (which I’ve read, and is certainly above average) “The man who loved China” in the U.S. and “Bomb, book, and compass” in the rest of the world. I think the latter is a much better title.