I'm baaack...

So, I get back from Tibet. Am sitting on a plane and the airline won't let us off. All of sudden a gaggle of health officials enter the plane. We have to stick old school thermometers under our armpits one at a time. No one leaves unless everyone is fever free. This was the start of the A/H1N1 scare in China.

Of course I whip out my camera and capture this odd phenomenon in process- true journalist at heart. Everyone checks out OK and hands in their obligatory health forms. Had just one person on the plane had an elevated temperature, we all would have been quarantined in either a hospital or hotel room for at least a week. I have heard horror stories of children being separated from parents and people being stuck in a room with nothing but Chinese TV to watch- I would beg for a gun.


Thank goodness I didn't have to go through that cultural experience. I still wanted to tell everyone about the plane ambush, so the minute I get back in Beijing I upload these pictures to my blog. In the process of doing this, the entire Internet in China shuts down. I retry my blog- no go. I wait til the next day- no go. I begin to get a little worried. Did I cause the Great Firewall to ramp up its armaments? Shit.


Turns out it wasn't me. At least no officers have tracked me down (that I know of). China just coincidentally decided to shut down all blogs. So here we are 5 months later. Blogs are still blocked. I had to buy a service ($40 USD) that routes my Internet through England. Now, the censors here can't track what I look at or block what I write.

Good thing as not only blogs but also YouTube, Facebook and several liberal news sites were also victim to this crackdown. Long story short- the much in demand Chopstick Chatter is now back. I warn you- I am back with a vengeance and plan to keep my fans satiated on a regular basis.

Watch out.