CHINA ARTICLES by Brian Hennessy
DPRK: mixing sport and politics
Brian Hennessy, An Australian in China. June, 2010 Despite their government’s public expressions of fraternity towards the dangerously troublesome Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK), these days Chinese people are more switched-on to the reality of life in the Hermit Kingdom. It is perhaps an uncomfortable reminder of what life used to be like in […]
China: on mercantilism.
Brian Hennessy. An Australian in China. February 5, 2010 On an accusation of mercantilism Mercantilism and China? I have to say that the term, now used to describe China’s commerce with other countries, is pejorative. England and Holland were mercantile trading nations during the industrial revolution and their time as exploiting colonial powers. Japan and […]
The law: soldiering on in China.
Brian Hennessy. An Australian in China. January, 2010 I am an Australian Vietnam veteran. I have a friend here in China who is also a Vietnam veteran. Whereas I fought local Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army regulars in South Vietnam 1966-67, he fought North Vietnamese troops along the China-Vietnam border in 1979. The law: […]
Fushun: small town China
Brian Hennessy. An Australian in China. January 1, 2010. At first glance, the only striking thing about Fushun is its utter ordinariness. It is just a small town in a small county in Sichuan province in southwest China, three hours or so by bus from the hinterland metropolises of Chengdu and Chongqing. It is typical […]
In Xichang
Brian Hennessy. An Australian in China. 2007 The first thing I do after arriving in a new town is get my bearings. And as I wander around looking at everything, getting the feel of the place, I often stumble across something really good. In Xichang yesterday, it was the old quarter of town. The original, crowded, […]
Scratching a living: China reality.
Brian Hennessy. China Australia Consult. June, 2009 Life in the countryside is dull. As dull as the sky viewed through that Chongqing mist. There is no ‘village life’ or excitement, or intellectual stimulation. Just the company of extended family who live in similar circumstances and who share a communal courtyard. A sad example of a […]
Valley: On the Tibetan border
Brian Hennessy. An Australian in China. Summer The valley’s name is Tsaupa Gu (Chuppa Gully). It is located on the other side of Genie Holy Mountain, and is surrounded by a jagged semicircle of grey, green and brown which dominates the closed eastern end of this little lost world. A giant angular Buddha, topped with […]
Wedding.
Brian Hennessy. China Australia Consult. 2008. Chen Xiao Jin and Zhang Yue had invited me to their wedding ceremony in Chaotianmen, Chongqing. Xiao Jin, the bride, was a close friend who had waited three lonely years for her boyfriend to complete his engineering degree in France before they could be reunited. Wedding ______________________________________________________________________ These […]
Liaoning Province: Fushun city.
Brian Hennessy. An Australian in China. 2008 Like many ordinary cities in China, Dongbei Fushun does not impress at first sight. The same old grimy buildings and littered streets dominated by rampant spewing smokestacks. This is industrial north-east China. Dongbei: the home of coal, steel, and struggling State Owned Enterprises. Downtown Liaoning Province: Fushun […]
Choices
Brian Hennessy. China Australia Consult. Chinese New Year, 2009. Chongqing weather: there is nothing good to say about it. The summer is more scorching and humid than the tropics, and winter is a cold wet blanket which coats the ridges in mist and fogs the river valleys below. A town without colour at this time […]