Simon beat me to this one because I still haven’t had time to read this week’s Economist – that’s the problem when it arrives on a Monday and you have to work for a living. He has noticed this story about fake watches in China. Well, actually it’s a story about the ‘surprising’ success of…

I am always happy when my view of the world is confirmed. So I heartily recommend Stephen Wildstrom’s column in the current issue of Business Week magazine, wherein he considers the relative merits of plasma, LCD, CRT, and projection systems when choosing a TV. He says: The picture quality of LCD is rapidly approaching that…

Two rather different views of Chinese New Year. Over at Voluntarily in China, which is new to me, an American who finds it a happy time of year, and enjoys the traditions. On the other hand, we have Fumier (now officially deemed a Brit unless he specifically denies it), who feels that CNY is part…

This story from The Guardian made me laugh. An angry customer tried to return a computer complaining that the computer he had bought only hours before did not work, according to police reports. The store’s staff opened the machine and discovered it was not functioning because its working parts had been replaced with small potatoes.…

What do we mean by a “weak” dollar? It sounds like a bad thing, but actually the effects are more complex – good for some, and bad for others.

Yesterday we went to the circus – the Great Moscow Circus in Wan Chai. I haven’t been to the circus since I was a child (quite a long time ago). Billy Smart’s Circus used to come to Clapham Common every year, usually just before Christmas, and a trip there was quite an exciting event. This…

Christmas is not a time for blogging. Enjoy the day and have a very Happy Christmas

This is a good article about Hong Kong in today’s Washington Post.

Another assortment of stuff I noticed over the last few days… According to the SCMP’s property supplement, there is a housing estate called “Windows 2000” in Shanghai. Apparently it was constructed before Microsoft started using the name, but it does seem to be tempting fate! Bill Gates once famously tried to compare computers to motor…

I think I will have to treat Ron with more respect. He reveals that he has a car with both Hong Kong and PRC plates. As far as I am aware, dual plates are only made available to the owners of businesses that have significant operations in China, so Ron must be a big cheese.…