June 30th, 2006 Chris
China has completed a 710-mile railway that will connect the country to Tibet for the first time by train, The Associated Press reported today. Beijing claims the project will bring economic development to the once-independent Himalayan nation. Tibetans and supporters of the government exiled in India argue the new rail line will destroy the unique ecosystem of the world’s largest mountain range.
I’ll be in Dalian, about as far from Tibet as possible in China, but the idea of a train ride to Tibet already has me thinking about travel writing, video features for my friend’s online magazine, and the 48-hour trip (Yes, two days) from Beijing to Lhasa. The two cities seem as far apart metaphysically as they are geographically. I can’t say for sure, since I still haven’t been to either. Dalian is only an hour’s flight from the Chinese capital, so the trip is doable if I get a little time.
I’m conflicted about taking the new train, too, since the Tibetans seem so opposed. I’m all for jumping into the middle of controversy, but I worry about making the situation worse.
Update: The AP and Reuters added follow-up stories documenting the two-day trip.
The AP story quoted Chinese president Hu Jintao saying at the inaugural event Saturday: “This is a magnificent feat by the Chinese people, and also a miracle in world railway history.”
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June 25th, 2006 Chris
This news from my alma mater brought my attention back to Santa Cruz yesterday. Denice Denton, who became chancellor in 2005, apparently jumped from a high-rise apartment in San Francisco on Saturday morning.The story was carried in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, San Jose Mercury News and San Francisco Chronicle. The Chronicle also provides a good archive of the controversy that may have led Denton to commit suicide.
I never met Denton, since she took over after I graduated, but nothing I’ve read about her suggested she was in such a bad place, personally or professionally. According to published reports, she was involved peripherally in a growing scandal over how the University of California compensates its top talent. She took heat because UC created a $192,000 job for her partner, Gretchen Kalonji, who lived in the building from which Denton leaped, according to the Chronicle. Unions at UCSC (who at times wield enormous clout on the liberal campus) had also criticized her over renovation to the house UCSC gives its chancellors, according to the Sentinel. Remodeling costs totaled around $600,000.
Denton’s predecessor, MRC Greenwood, resigned from a UC Office of the President post last year over a compensation scandal. Greenwood allegedly helped land another close friend, Lynda Goff, a job at UCOP without disclosing that the two owned property together in Davis, Calif.
The university issued a statement on its website yesterday, calling Denton’s death a “tragic loss.”
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June 18th, 2006 Chris
create your own visited country map
or check our Venice travel guide
Looking at this map, I’m starting to wonder why I’ve been all over Europe but never to Mexico, which is only a few hours south of Los Angeles. Frankly, I don’t have a good excuse. It’s just never happened. Maybe I’ll get my act together and fix that before I head off to China.
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June 17th, 2006 Chris
Dalian is about an hour’s flight from Beijing. It’s close proximity to Japan and colonial history make it a major outsourcing destination for Japanese companies, according to news reports.
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June 17th, 2006 Chris
In America, I’m a journalist. In China, I’ll be an English teacher. What will I call myself a year from now?
I’ve spent most of my life in California, growing up in the Southland and going to school in Santa Cruz on the Central Coast. Europe whetted my wanderlust, and the farther I got from the Disneylands of Paris, Venice, Rome and Florence, the more interesting things became.
My favorite cities in Europe are Prague, Sarajevo and Dubrovnik. In those places, change was palpable and hostels were cheap. Countries trying to re-invent themselves are infinitely more fascinating than those trying to remain as museums shaped like nation-states.
As a journalist, I’m always on the lookout for change, but my interest in whole societies in the midst of a metamorphosis seems to run deeper, and I’m not sure why. China is undergoing one of the biggest transformations in modern history, emerging from a closed society to a global economic powerhouse. At the same time, I’m trying to re-invent myself in a way, both by moving to China and by changing jobs for a while.
So, I have to wonder: What will China look like a year from now, and how will I be looking at it?
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June 15th, 2006 Chris
Don’t forget: News does not happen in the newsroom.
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