An intense series in the writing at the <a href="http://www.sinosplice.com/~laowaimono/">Laowai Monologues</a>.    Mr Laowai writes very strongly about the feelings of outsiderness that foreigners can feel in China, and in a very novel form.  Highly recommended, start back a few weeks.

It's weblogs like <a href="http://www.tschang.net">T S Chang's</a> and <a href="http://mediainchina.blogspot.com">Fons Tuinstra's</a> (Media in China) that really show the potential of weblogging beyond being an "online diary."  T S Chang is a reporter for Bloomberg in Beijing, and Fons Tuinstra is a reporter based in Shanghai.  I hope that this weblog will be more active and informative once I officially start my Chinese studies this fall.

--OK, so <a href="http://www.sinosplice.com/~alfismyname/2003_08_01_archive.html#106054501670412451" title="all these articles are just kind of bland.">Alf wasn't too excited</a> about the New York Times reporting on <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/10/nyregion/10SARS.html?pagewanted=print" title="Princeton Stands in for Beijing: Studies of China Adapt to SARS">Princeton in Beijing being held in Princeton</a> this year (and I disagree with his point:  look for articles on labor unrest by Eric Eckholm).  But it was interesting for me to see it mentioned, and I actually anticipated the articles conclusion when I saw the quotes by Perry Link, program director and <span lang="la">persona non-grata</span> in China:

<blockquote> "I'm still on a blacklist," he said. "This is the first time since 1994 that I've been able to be the administrator of the summer program, and to teach Princeton-in-Beijing students."</blockquote>