Life Insights ⁽³⁰⁵⁾

Throughout the summer vacation, I spent essentially every day at the National Library of China. I would arrive at the new building shortly after eight in the morning to queue up; when the library opened at nine, I would rush into the reading room at…

Level woods spread far, mist woven through; / the cold hills stretch a wistful blue. / Dusk settles on the high tower, / and someone on the tower grieves. / On jade steps she stands in vain, / roosting birds fly swiftly home. / Where…

This year, all my important personal matters have gone smoothly—half through my own effort, half through good luck. Household registration transfer, the college entrance exam, and my first lawsuit in life all turned out considerably better than I expected. When I went out to handle…

You rule the city, I rule the mountains. — Line from the film Rambo: First Blood First Blood was the first movie I ever saw. I remember one Children's Day, a mobile film team came to our village hall and showed that very film starring…

When my gaokao results came out in 1998, I went to the school and happened to see Mr. Song, my physics teacher, saying excitedly to other teachers in front of the administrative building: "How can an examination system like this select genuine talent? How should…

I came to the United States in 1946 and spent a year at the Army Logistics Staff College. After returning to the US again in 1952, I was completely penniless. I washed dishes in restaurants, worked as a waiter, mixed cocktails in bars, toiled as…

On Haji Lane in Singapore there is a Hainanese Western restaurant called "Taizi Coffee Shop." It has been open for 50 years, run by an 86-year-old owner, Lin Daobai. Originally from Hainan, China, Lin came to Singapore by boat with his parents as a child;…

The 2024 gaokao is nearly here. Over the last few days I have been packing my luggage, getting ready to sit the exam. This is my first time in a gaokao examination room in 26 years. In 1998 I was admitted to a national key…

Every upheaval and accident that befalls us in life is a help to the growth of our mind—provisions that make us wiser. ——Epigraph I do not know when, or why, I gave myself the nickname “Zhou Er Gou” (Zhou Number Two Dog). There is a…

When my son was in junior high, a classmate lived in the neighborhood next door. The boy got on well with my son, and his mother became close with my wife. The boy was always rather morose; from early childhood he was under great pressure…