My wife and I recently took a two-week trip to Xinjiang, China and a one-week trip to Taiwan. We were able to squeeze between these two trips a two-day visit to the Shanghai World Expo. Since there is so much interest in the Shanghai World Expo and many people are planning to visit it later this year, I thought it would be useful to provide some reflections on our visit. Since many people have visited the Shanghai World Expo and were not able to obtain a ticket to see the China Pavilion, I describe in an appendix a strategy that we learned from a friend that can maximize the chances of obtaining a ticket to the China Pavilion.
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Reflections on a Recent Visit to Shanghai’s World Expo
June 2010
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Meditation: An Often Neglected Component of Taiji Practice
April 2010
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Three Major Components of Taiji Practice
There are three major components of Taiji practice: Forms, Push Hands, and Meditation. Everyone who has ever practiced Taiji knows about and has practiced the Forms component, i.e., engaging the body in various sets of prescribed movements, and depending on the level of practice, perhaps integrating with breathing techniques. Most people who are interested in Taiji from the perspective of martial arts probably also know about and have practiced the Push Hands component, i.e., engaging with another practitioner in various choreographed or free-style arm and leg movements trying to execute some of the martial applications of Taiji. However, many people who practice Taiji may not have engaged in the Meditation component, even though they might have heard about it.
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Subtle Political Maneuvering Using U.S. Census
April 2010
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Recently during the period for completing the U.S.’s official 2010 Census form, there was a very cleverly disguised campaign that on the surface seemed to be a campaign to improve the rights of Chinese Americans who came to the U.S. from Taiwan. In actuality, it was a campaign for Taiwan independence.
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Tale of Two Cultures and Two Countries – Part II
When I first came to this country in 1955 as a young boy, one of my first impressions was that many parents would give their children a small weekly allowance, e.g., 50 cents or a dollar. Usually this was given on Friday evening after the parents received their paychecks. I observed that most of the time, the children would spend their allowances very quickly, usually by Saturday afternoon or evening the allowances would have been completely spent.
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