I am back in Beijing. I lived here for four months, oh so long ago now, and I haven’t been back for several years. But landing in a hot day under a clear blue sky I was reminded of my first landfall in China, at the same airport. Beijing’s dusty smell is still the same, […]

I got my new passport yesterday, not only new to me but the new “electronic” or “biometric” passport (I prefer “biometric” because it sounds more sci-fi) which apparently the state department has only been giving out since August 14.
It’s thicker than the old analog (or “dead-ender”) passport, and it has a number of anti-terrorist features, […]