Culture

Getting a train onto a ferry is a big deal, even today. Apart from the fact that trains are just plain heavy, they require the building of trestle bridges for the embarking/disembarking of locomotives and carriages. All very well,...

Nanjing South Railway Station perhaps might have never become a reality. And at the heart of the matter was a 3-year-long disagreement between the Ministry of Railways and the Nanjing urban planning authorities.  It was in December of 1994 that...

Dressing up schoolwork as a toy. It’s such a hoary old cliché it might just work. I’m hoping to coax out some actual written words from my students by inviting them to play with the paper itself; dirty it up...

So you drink coffee? Fair enough. You’re not alone. It’s an easy mistake to make. There’s plenty of time to remedy your error. If you’re reading this here in China, you have ample opportunity to switch yourself on to a...

Many will be familiar with the impressive data set accompanying Nanjing’s Zhonghua Men. The biggest citadel on Earth still in existence, capable of housing a garrison of 3,000 soldiers and likely the most complex structure of its time. But that...

They were the largest of their kind in the Far East at the time. Today, telescopes far and wide falling under the umbrella of Nanjing Purple Mountain Observatory continue to make significant contributions to astronomical observation. No wonder it...

You’re familiar with the rule by now. Do not carry your own liquids allowed into the airport departure lounge.  … except that I was drinking an awesome green tea I’d brought with me from China. And no one was asking...

Synonymous with Chinese cookery and a prevalent flavour in most savoury dishes, ginger has an unmistakable taste, which for me provides dishes with a slightly sour flavour, whilst giving subtle heat. I wanted to find a dish here where ginger...