Author Archive
A brief introduction to Mandarin: Cairns
Yirong Li (Teacher Li). Assistant Professor, Chinese language & Culture. In Cairns. Mandarin is the official language of mainland China. Note: Mandarin is a Western term for Chinese language. The local term is Putonghua which literally means ‘standard language’. The majority of mainland Chinese people speak Mandarin or one of its sub-dialects. A minority speak Cantonese (mainly […]
Understanding China
Brian Hennessy. An Australian in China. May, 2010 “We need to ramp up the critical mass of Australians who are China literate… Unless we do so, our relations with China risk being seriously undermined by miss-perceptions and neglect.” Alan Dupont, director of the Centre for International Security Studies at the University of Sydney, published in The Australian Newspaper, April 12, […]
Chinese tourism in Cairns 2011
Brian Hennessy. An Australian in China. Business Week Opinion. Cairns Post. June, 2011 I have recently returned to Cairns from Chongqing, China, where I have been living and working for the last eight years. This giant metropolis of 6.5 million residents straddles the Yangtze River upstream from the Three Gorges Dam. It lies in the […]
China from the inside out
Brian Hennessy. An Australian in China. February, 2012 I hesitate to write about my observations of life in China. The boundary between my Western culture and Chinese culture has blurred. For example: when I arrived in 2003 everything was new and exciting and it was easy to spot the differences. Nowadays they are not so obvious. Nevertheless, […]
Australian & Chinese couples
Adele Horin. Sydney Morning Herald. January 3, 2012 Eastern approach may keep couples from landing in divorce courts AUSTRALIAN couples show affection, speak their mind and put high store on love and sex as essential ingredients of a happy marriage. But with one in three ending in divorce, researchers are examining whether Eastern cultures […]
Butuo
Brian Hennessy. An Australian in China. 2009 Butuo. A dangerous small town in southwest China. Alcohol, drugs, violence and orphans. Too many of them. A depressing place. Don’t go there. Butuo ____________________________________________________________ Butuo is the saddest town I have seen in China. It is a couple of hours by local bus from Xichang, the […]
Nujiang Canyon
Brian Hennessy. An Australian in China. November, 2011 The Nujiang (Nu River) Canyon is a spectacular 315 kilometre long marvel of nature in northwest Yunnan province in southwest China. The Chinese call it the Grand Canyon of the East: a direct comparison with the more famous Grand Canyon in the USA. Go there if you […]
To Yangshuo
Brian Hennessy. An Australian in China. 2006. Travel agencies around the world display the photos: sensually moulded limestone kharst mountains huddled together – a jumble of softly rounded silhouettes pushing up into a hazy blue south China sky. Iconic stuff. Although it’s a popular tourist destination, don’t let that worry you – it’s a beautiful […]
Ambush in Phuoc Tuy
Brian (Chick) Hennessy. Vietnam veteran. Ambush in Phuoc Tuy They were nearly on him. Padding slowly along a track leading from the Nui Dinh Hills towards Binh Ba further north. Sandals treading softly on the blood-red clay path, carefully avoiding the leafy decay on the fringes. Rifles at the ready. Faces peering into the night. […]
A song and dance in China
Brian Hennessy. An Australian in China. July, 2011 What can we make of the reappearance of Maoist-era revolutionary rhetoric in China? This recent phenomenon was first noticed in Chongqing, China’s gateway to the west which is situated on the Yangtze River upstream from the Three Gorges Dam. This is the heartland of China. A […]