One day can make a big difference. On Thursday the air pollution was so bad the Air Quality Index (AQI) in Beijing had gone off the index. Though I work in a building with filtered air, it was an unwelcome distraction. I regretted not bringing my mask for the short walk between the Embassy and

The news these days seems to be all bad. Besides the terrible things that continue to happen in the traditional troubled parts of the world, a steady flow of tragedies are occurring in unexpected places. Today in France terrorists were shot dead by Police after they themselves had killed many other people. Paris is generally

We just returned from a visit to Hong Kong. A popular tourist destination, it is also a center of high finance and business. Our hotel was fancy by our standards, offering extravagant lunch and dinner buffets that always seemed crowded. As we toured the island, our guide pointed out the nicer neighborhoods where apartments can

When many of us were children, our parents made us eat the good food they prepared so we wouldn’t get hungry later and eat the junk food others might offer us, especially strangers. They did it because they loved us and wanted to make sure we had the best. Hopefully you did that for your

     It was Sophia’s Birthday and we wanted to wish her a Happy Birthday and let her know how much we love her even though we lived in Beijing, and she was in Texas. That was her special day, and she deserved a little extra attention. It took a bit of doing with the