The New York Review of Books asked me to look at a photo book on Sufi shrines in China’s western province of Xinjiang. I wasn’t sure what to expect but found it fascinating and happily wrote this blogpost.
China’s Ancient Lifeline
A piece in the May issue of National Geographic on China’s Grand Canal. I had the privilege of joining a wonderful family lives on a coal barge, for a ten-day trip down the canal. Also some musings on the destruction of the once-beautiful old cities along the canal but the timelessness, not of the views, but of the barge people’s lives.
Studio City
My piece in the April 22 New Yorker on the world’s largest studio lot in the world–Hengdian World Studios–and on the falsification of history in China. Paywall alert.
Will China rule the waves?
Figuring out China’s direction in foreign policy is always difficult but a couple of new books make an effort at it and are very fun to read. I review them in this article in the current issue of the New York Review of Books (paywall alert).