Evan Osnos

The Da Jing street market is little more than a few narrow intersections, barely six blocks long. But for a visitor, it is a living, breathing education in Shanghai cuisine, a style distinguished by its thick savory sauces spiked with sugar and soy sauce. ”

By the Nineties, so many people were moonlighting and creating their own professional identities that China generated a brisk new business in the printing of business cards. ”

Beijing has a glut of charming and traditional or brash and luxurious places to stay. ”

It can take the uninitiated a minute to realize that 'Gangnam Style' is satire. ”

China's Communist Party is wary of independent-minded movements. ”

For all that we can see from the road in China, there is a lot that we cannot see. We miss what's behind the trees, the cover-ups, the darker side of things - the ingredients that so often drive a reporting trip. ”

The Beijing government avidly asserts its control over matters of reincarnation as a way of securing the loyalty and political complexion of influential Tibetan figures. ”

There was a docudrama that was made, called 'The Death Of A Princess,' which was about a true story in Saudi Arabia. It was about a public execution for adultery. And when the movie was aired on British television, the Saudi government threatened to cut off oil exports and to cut off diplomatic relations. ”

Like most markets, Da Jing is most alive just after dawn, when the elementary-school children in their uniforms and bright red kerchiefs set off through narrow streets, marking the start of another frenzied day of commerce. ”

China believes that it has the rightful claim to a vast portion of the South China Sea, which is claimed by other countries. ”