I spend a good amount of my time here in China reading about, well, China. During the year I've developed a system for checking various online publications for China news, because no one source seems to cover the whole picture.

So now that I've started this nifty blog, I'll periodically post stories that I find interesting for one reason or another for anyone who might be interested. It might be news or current events, analysis, commentary or fiction -- anything that I feel has helped illuminate a part of China, its culture or its people.

Recently I read a short story in the New Yorker by Chinese writer Ma Jian called "The Abandoner."

It mixes different stereotypes of Chinese people, as well as political and moral conundrums that make up an interesting, if not bizarre, tale of a man's fight against fate. You can read it here.