Author Archive
Turpan: on the Silk Road
Brian Hennessy. An Australian in China. Sept/Oct, 2015 Turpan used to be a stopover on the northern Silk Road in what is now the province of Xinjiang in western China. It is adjacent to the eastern Tian Shan (Heavenly Mountain) on the edge of a Taklamakan desert depression called the Turpan Basin. It is 154 […]
Dunhuang: on the Silk Road
Brian Hennessy. An Australian in China. September/October, 2015 Located near the eastern end of the Silk Road, Dunhuang and its ancient Mogao caves contain an extraordinary number of religious artifacts, shrines, and secular manuscripts. Together they open a window into China’s fascinating history. Here is a little bit of it to whet your appetite (click […]
The Silk Road by train
Brian Hennessy. An Australian in China. September/October, 2015 Traversing the Silk Road by train in Central Asia. How does one condense so much ancient and modern history into one short article? A difficult task. So I will limit my observations to a traveller’s general impressions rather than specific descriptions of the places visited (click photos to […]
Bamboo Sea
Brian Hennessy. An Australian in China. May, 2015 I had been thinking about visiting the Bamboo Sea (Zhu Hai) near Yibin for years. You know how it is: places close to home (in this case, three hours by road from Chongqing) never seem as exotic as those further away. Nevertheless, when my friend Xiaojin who comes from […]
To Danba: in West Sichuan
Brian Hennessy. An Australian in China. May 2015 Dānbā (丹巴) is an isolated county in western Sichuan populated by Qiang and Tibetan peoples. I had hoped to visit this mountainous area and its famous watchtowers a few years ago, but the 2008 Sichuan earthquake had destroyed the roads. In 2015, I was able to travel there by […]
In China: what is truth?
Brian Hennessy. An Australian in China. April, 2015 It’s always difficult to comment on China. Paradoxically, this rigid Confucian society appears to change from one day to the next. Whether this is cultural reality or personal confusion, I am not sure. Nevertheless those of us who have lived in the Middle Kingdom for a long time have […]
Xi Jinping’s plan
Brian Hennessy. An Australian in China. March, 2015 China’s president, Xi Jinping, is an enigma. On the one hand he presents as a modern leader who many hope will guide his nation away from the social and political strictures of a command economy toward a more open society. On the other hand, he appears to be buttressing […]
Culture shock in China
Brian Hennessy. An Australian in China. DipT; BA; MEd; DipPsych. Psychologist All change is stressful, and although we may not think so at the time, culture shock is a normal reaction to change. It is not a mental illness, and with a little self-knowledge it can be managed successfully. If we hope to adapt to […]
Stress
Stress Brian Hennessy. DipT; BA; MEd; DipPsych. Psychologist Content Stress is a normal part of life. What is stress? Warning signs of too much stress. What happens if we do not manage stress? How can we manage stress? Thinking and stress. What is an optimum level of stress? Stress test. Stress. […]
Depression
Depression Brian Hennessy. DipT; BA; MEd; DipPsych. Psychologist Content What is depression? Types of depression Signs of depression Causes Treatment Types of treatment What is depression? Depression is a word that people often use to describe feelings of sadness which all of us experience from time to time. It is also […]