15: another china

just completing my third month in hangzhou, near shanghai. this is what i expected all of china to look like: temples, gardens, teahouses, all built around a scenic, often misty lake. the city is more than 2,000 years old; marco polo thought hangzhou was the most splendid city he had ever seen. for me, it's definitely another world from my other experiences in china.

i'm an architect again! i am working with tian ren architects here, a young firm of about forty people, with a big variety of work in several cities in the region. my mandarin is improving because it has to: i'm the only western person in the office! most recent graduates here have acquired pretty good english skills (better than they think), but most are afraid to speak. surprisingly, written english can sometimes break a logjam of misunderstanding: where i am still hesitant to trust my choice of a restroom in chinese characters, many chinese people can read english and understand.

more soon...