Notes From Xi'an 西安随感

These Notes came about from me just wanting to get a bit of creative down time in my week. As that time has generally been found in coffee shops, I have tried to add a bit of value to the process by including a Coffee Shop Listings Page. I hope it is of some use to some. It would have been for me if I had found it.

The Notes themselves often come with a socio-political twist of some kind, apologies in advance for that; it’s the consequence of studying a little too much sociology, politics and philosophy when I was younger.

I have up until this point (Summer ’11) always attempted to add a Note a week. I am now, though, as we progress towards 2012, going to change the focus of my life a little. Which will include trying to spend less time splashing about on the Internet, and more time studying this language. Consequently, I may well be adding fewer Notes. I may also from time to time just add random Notes about the wider world beyond Xi’an. As always we’ll just see how we go.

There is a page that has the more Xi’an Centred Notes collected together, which may help give people an impression of what this fast developing city is like today. I will keep the Coffee Shops page up to-date, as well as the China Web Links page. The latter includes China specific news sites, podcasts, language sites, China comment sites, and a couple of China News aggregators.

*[contact: www.nfx@gmail.com]

**There are a few links at the bottom of the sidebar to charitable organisations that are based in Xi’an, where there are some opportunities for voluntary work, as well as donation. They are also listed together on the Links and Listings page.

About Me

I have lived in Xi’an for about five years. I am English, grew up all over Britain, spent quite a bit of time traveling when I was younger, ended up studying Politics and Philosophy at University and lived in London for a couple of years, before traveling through Sri Lanka and India to get to China.

I had realised back in Britain when looking around at things that it was time to decide what I really wanted to do with my life. The answer, was that I wanted to travel in India and spend a good chunk of that life in China.

The basic reasons being that I had nearly visited India ten years earlier and it felt somewhat like going home to finally go there. Second, after looking around at the world; through my studies and from wider experiences, it seemed that in my life time China was going to have a significant, if not the most significant influence over many of the issues that will shape our societies. It seemed to me that if I wanted to get a sense of how our world was to go forward I needed to get a sense of this country and its people. My simple plan before arriving was if I liked it, I would stay.

Since being here, I have only traveled a little, visiting a few quiet spots in Gansu, Sichuan, Yunnan and Xinjiang, as well as a few trips to Beijing and Shanghai. I now have a Chinese wife who comes from the South of Shaanxi, I teach a little, study a little, do a little voluntary work and generally enjoy a simple and pleasant life here in Xi’an. This country or more precisely this city does seem to be becoming home.

Enjoy,

Richard Frost (李志)

[contact: www.nfx@gmail.com]

Content Usage/ Copyright:

I haven’t bothered with this before as I really didn’t think about it but, as over the last few months I have come across a few instances where content has been reproduced elsewhere without permission, and without any credit to its origin, I thought I would now add a short comment about permission. This note over at Christine Tan’s Shanghai Shiok! is quite appropriate, so, somewhat ironically, I will reproduce it here:

“Except where otherwise noted, all content belongs to [Richard Frost]. Non-commercial, non-profit blogs and websites may reproduce short excerpts (300 words or two paragraphs, whichever is longer) and up to two photos so long as you credit [Notes From Xi'an] and include a link to the original post. Please do not reproduce longer excerpts, entire posts or multiple images without written permission”. Thank you.

Copyright © 2011 Richard Frost, Notes From Xi’an, All Rights Reserved