Chinese recruited for war had secret passage through Canada


YPRES, BELGIUM — Under pristine, white tombstones in the British military cemeteries dotting the landscape
throughout Belgium and northern France, the graves of thousands of Chinese labourers can be found.

Some 140,000 Chinese men were recruited by the Allies during the First World War to fill a critical labour
shortage at the Western Front. While their contributions have often been overlooked or even forgotten, there is
evidence of their work everywhere in and around Ypres and along the coast of north-west France, not far from the site of the Battle of the Somme.

You just have to know where to look.

(CTV News, Nov. 11, 2011)

Snorkeling in Boracay


BORACAY, PHILIPPINES — As soon as I lowered myself into Boracay’s balmy waters, hundreds of fish began swimming in the currents I had created. Just underneath the surface, coral — some of it resembling the heads of cauliflower, others looking more like the human brain — hid even more fish.

Crocodile Island is one of the Philippines’ finest snorkeling spots, featuring a wide variety of marine life and depths that are suitable to explorers of all levels of experience. Located about 200 miles south of Manila, it’s a 20-minute boat ride from the island of Boracay, a fast-growing tourist destination known for its White Beach.

(The Wall Street Journal, Aug. 9, 2011)


Hiking China


For first-time visitors to China, Beijing and Shanghai are the default destinations. But for tourists who like to mix city travel with outdoor experiences, two natural landmarks in China stand out: Yellow Mountain and Tiger Leaping Gorge. Both are among the country's most popular and significant attractions, akin to the Grand Canyon in the U.S. Yellow Mountain – Huangshan has been an icon in Chinese culture for centuries. Tiger Leaping Gorge, about 240 miles from the Tibetan border, is one of the deepest gorges in the world. READ MORE.

(Associated Press, Jan. 12, 2011)

Landlubbers Welcome



HONG KONG —Looking up at Hong Kong's skyline of soaring office towers and mammoth apartment complexes, it's hard to imagine that a short ferry ride could whisk you away from this bustling metropolis to another world — a world where there are no high rises, no cars and no crowds. READ MORE.


(Associated Press, Jan. 11, 2011)

China struggles to rebuild mental health programs



HONG KONG — The anomaly is striking. At least a dozen workers leapt to their death in the same factory compound in southern China in 2010, while nearly 30 people died and 80 were injured in a spate of school stabbings. Yet, contrary to instinct, there is little evidence to confirm that there has been a rapid rise in the rate of mental illnesses in China, and strong evidence of a dramatic drop in suicide rates over the past two decades. READ MORE.


(CMAJ, Jan, 5 2011)
China searches for best medicine for ailing scientific journals


HONG KONG — China’s scientific journals are, simply put, plagued by mediocrity. The country has over 5000 mostly Chinese-language science and technology journals, but many of the articles they publish are unread and rarely cited. READ MORE.




(CMAJ, Nov, 19 2010)
Canadians can’t disguise admiration and concern over masked traveller’s stunt


HONG KONG — Canadians flying out of the same Hong Kong airport where a man in disguise boarded a plane for Vancouver expressed everything from admiration to concern Saturday over his Mission Impossible-esque stunt. READ MORE.


(National Post, Nov. 6, 2010)
China's "left behind" children often suffer health consequences

QINGTIAN COUNTY, ZHEJIANG PROVINCE —
Zhang Sheng Yi was just a few months old when he was sent from his home, outside of Venice, Italy to Qingtian, a mountainous county in China’s southeastern province of Zhejiang. His father was a cook in a sushi restaurant and his mother a seamstress in a clothing factory. Struggling immigrants, overwhelmed and underpaid, they shipped their only son to China to be cared for by his paternal grandmother. Across China, millions of children have been left in the care of relatives in the countryside as their parents migrate to cities, or even abroad, to find work. READ MORE.


(CMAJ, September 2010)
Affluence Prompts Women to Light Up in China


HONG KONG — There is a smoking room in Zhang Pei Pei’s office in Beijing, China. At any time of the day, men crowd the small space, lighting up and puffing away until they’re enveloped in a thick, cloudy haze. But when Zhang has a craving for one of 10 cigarettes she’ll smoke each day, she doesn’t join her male colleagues.

"There’s not one woman in there," she says. "If I went in there, the men might not be too happy." Instead, she treks outside to light up, and if she looks left or right, will typically see other women doing the same.

READ MORE.

(CMAJ, July 2010)



Canadian doughnut chain aims to kreme rivals in New York

NEW YORK — Tim Hortons wants a piece of America's donut war. Earlier this month, Canada's beloved donut chain opened its first New York City locations, replacing 11 Dunkin' Donuts in Manhattan and Brooklyn.


(Associated Press, July 24, 2009)

Lady Liberty Crown Re-opens on July Fourth


NEW YORK — The first visitors allowed into the Statue of Liberty's crown in nearly eight years made the arduous climb Saturday on an Independence Day journey laden with symbolism of freedom, national pride — and for one couple, romance.




(Associated Press, July 4, 2009)
Determined to Serve - The Ottawa Citizen




OTTAWA, CANADA — At the outbreak of war, thousands of Canada's minority communities lined up to enlist in the armed forces. Many were turned away because of the colour of their skin. This two-page spread in the Ottawa Citizen tells the remarkable stories of five minority veterans who fought discrimination.




(Ottawa Citizen, Oct. 2006)
Making the Force Fit The City


TORONTO — The city's police service is determined to diversify its officers. It's paying off, but some things still get lost in translation. I go on a ride-a-long with Constable Chen Shen, a former computer programmer from Beijing who now patrols one of Toronto's most dangerous neighborhoods.


(The Globe and Mail, Aug. 2006)
From the Far East to Farmingdale


LONG ISLAND — Mu Zijian was preparing for his Chinese culture class at Sichuan University in western China when his desk began to shake, the floor beneath his feet rumbled, and the walls of his fifth-floor dormitory room swayed from side to side. The story of how 150 students, whose lives were devastated by the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, came to America.

(The Long Island Press, September 2008)
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