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Guest Diary: Eleven airplanes and one bottle of bai jiu

I’ve known Brian Dominguez since the late 1970s, when we both were very tiny people. Since then, I have grown to be a normal-sized human being, and Brian … well … let’s just say that my girlfriend Bliss — 5-foot-2 and petite — outweighs him. Despite his stature, I still consider Brian one of my best friends in the world.

Brian and his wife Jill — actually two inches shorter than Bliss — spent 14 days in China starting on February 20. I traveled with them … and we went all over the damn place. Starting and finishing in Shanghai, we hit Beijing, The Great Wall, Kunming, Lijiang and Xishuangbanna. Brian and Jill brought some amazing weather with them. They also brought an amazingly huge medicine bag. Jill is somewhat of a hypo … a hypo … Jill is very careful when it comes to health. (My favorite items from the medicine bag: two sterile syringes and two sets of “sterile” chopsticks. Yes, they brought chopsticks to China. They didn’t use the chopsticks — but I ended up using one of the syringes. Thanks to a poor choice of socks, I had to pop some nasty blisters after a two-day hike in ‘Banna.)

Anyway, the purpose of this post was to welcome you to read Brian’s journal from the trip. Brian’s mom has described his collection of entries as “voluminous.” I’d say that’s accurate. There are also plenty of photos on that page, several of which were “borrowed” from yours truly. If you’d like to comment on anything in Brian’s Guest Diary, you can do so as a comment to this post. Brian’s site is not a blog.

03.24.2005, 7:45 PM · Guest Diaries, Photos · Comments (3)

shanghai: city of cranes

By Heather Shayne Blakeslee

blakeslee02.gifThere are images and ideas of China that I have only from visiting Shanghai, and then there are those things that seemed immediately familiar to me when I arrived because I had already read them in Dan’s diaries. What I wasn’t prepared for was how completely those dispatches of everyday life epitomize larger themes about Shanghai: the city’s mad flirtation with capitalism, the back alleys of Chinese tradition that seem to have survived ruthless development, the almost unseemly mix of Eastern and Western culture. If that sounds violent and maybe a little seedy, you’re getting an idea of the character of the city, of its pace and its density. Even after living in New York for many years, I was still unprepared for the cultural and economic extremes I witnessed in the very short time I was there. I was surprised daily by the sheer volume of people that Shanghai holds in its sprawling arms. It is the only city I have ever been in, at home or abroad, that rivals New York in its “city-ness” Shanghai moves with a kind of severe flow, a churning that will either pull you under or throw you into unexpected splendor.

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02.18.2003, 10:17 PM · Guest Diaries

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Shanghai Diaries is a website about Shanghai, China ... and lots of other stuff. Voted Best Mainland China Blog in the 2004 Asia Blog Awards.

Editor: Dan Washburn

Related: Shanghaiist and Mudan Boutique

Dan is a freelance writer living in Shanghai. More about Dan.

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10.08.2005 (127 new)
Fujian Power!
Visit an old colonial island in Xiamen and huge earthen roundhouses in rural Fujian. Scenes from my National Day 2005 holiday.

10.08.2005 (41 new)
Infomercial
Go on the set for my very first infomercial! I play the role of “Dr. James,” inventor of a product called “Dolly.”

10.08.2005 (57 new)
Gaelic Football
Get some sweaty culture at the Asian Gaelic Games. Gaelic football comes to Shanghai!

10.08.2005 (14 new)
Xingfu 13
Jam with Xingfu 13 at the Shanghaiist.com launch party.

10.08.2005 (29 new)
Shanghai Sex Expo
Take a stroll through the Second Annual China International Adult Toys and Reproductive Health Exhibition, also known as the Adult Expo or the Adult-Care Expo.

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