China is a country of coal. Even though China's coal usage peaked in 2013 and is now declining, still more than 60% of the country's total energy consumption comes from coal. Especially in norther China where it gets cold in winter this is a big deal. Coal causes a lot of air pollution. We directly... Continue Reading →

As luck would have it, we are in Beijing the same day Xi Jingping opens the 19th Party Congress of the Communist Party. This happens only every 5 years and thus is quite a big deal in China. Also, this means tightened security! More men (and a few women) in uniform and more security checks... Continue Reading →

China is a tea country. An old Chinese saying identifies tea as one of seven basic necessities of life, along with firewood, oil, rice, salt, soy sauce and vinegar. Since we love tea in any form this is fantastic! 😄 However, we also love coffee (in Chinese: 咖啡)... 😀 So we set out to find some... Continue Reading →