Podcasts about australian chinese

①Beijing boasts over 2.1 million professionals in high-end industries: report②Chinese firm launches expressway unmanned truck platoon self-driving testing③Scientists develop most refined chimpanzee brain atlas④Australian-Chinese research makes breakthrough in solving mystery of how Mars evolved⑤Critically-endangered ducks spotted in N China nature reserve ⑥A Thousand Whys: How do I love thee, magpies?

Propertybuyer Podcast #81 Michael Coombs – Atlas, Director and Licensee in Charge Topic: Sydney's Lower North Shore  - Perspectives and Insights   Welcome to another edition of the Propertybuyer Podcast   Prestige property on Sydney's Lower North Shore is highly sought after and commands a premium price. But what is happening in this segment of the market right now? Has this market peaked or is there more momentum to come? What will drive property prices in this location? and is the demographic make up changing - Who's moving in and who's moving out?   Today I'm thrilled to have Michael Coombs with us—a true powerhouse in the real estate world. Michael is the Director and Licensee in charge for Atlas Lower North Shore.   With over 22 years experience and $3.5 billion of sales under his belt,  Michael is renowned for his extensive and diverse network, reaching not only local markets but also national and international spheres, with strong ties to ex-pat and Australian-Chinese communities.   Michael's impact also goes beyond property; he's well known as an “entrepreneurial agent” with strong community connections, supporting charities, schools, and other local organizations. Michael's commitment to his clients, community, and industry is truly inspiring, and we're excited to dive into his journey and insights today.

If more people knew more ways to cook vegetables, do you think they would be more likely to eat healthier? Studies show that people who were more knowledgeable about cooking vegetables were more likely to report eating them regularly. Hetty Lui McKinnon is an award-winning Australian Chinese cookbook author. She is known for her vibrant and flavorful vegetarian recipes that are inspired by her Chinese heritage and global travels.

The incoming Lunar New Year brings in the Year of the Wood Dragon – a year of opportunity and renewal, career work and success. Australian-Chinese artist Chris Chun talks us through the origins of the Chinese zodiac, and how best to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Take Chris' recommendation and visit Melbourne's Chinatown to see the Lunar New Year parade followed by yum cha, chinatownmelbourne.com.au then pop into the Museum of Chinese Australian History to say "Kung hei fat choi!" to the largest dragon in the world, the Millennial Dragon, whose head weighs around 200kg. Chris's family's favourite Chinese restaurant in Melbourne is the long-running Rock Kung has been around for decades, visit them at 101 Kingsway, Glen Waverley. Also, Booking.com releases its Top 10 Most Welcoming Places in Australia, and the Sunshine Coast and Victoria are shining bright - but who do you think got the top gong? For more Sunny Coast goodness, and to put its claim as Australia's craft beer capital to the test, see visitsunshinecoast.com And finally, let's save money on travel insurance! Financial comparison site Mozo shows you how, see mozo.com.au --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theworldawaits/message

Hello, Happy New Year! And welcome to the Wise Not Withered podcast. We are on Season 4, and this is episode number 11. Today's guest is Helen W. I found her on Instagram. Her username is 50_over_and_beautiful. And I really loved the vibe of her profile, just so colorful, she looks so happy. Lots of modeling, clothes and food and drinks, and all kinds of different places that she has traveled to. There's a lot of different performances where she has sung. And she talks about all of those things in our interview. She is truly a citizen of the world. She grew up... And actually, I'll let her tell you where she grew up and where she has lived all throughout her life. It's pretty interesting, pretty unique. In addition to all the places where she has lived and visited, she talks about her pretty complex job, and also the intricate family dynamics, of her upbringing with her family of origin, and her dynamic with her son currently. And she also talks about just her experience being an older woman in today's society... What that means, how she's been treated by other women, especially—older and younger, and a pretty interesting work-life balance that she has maintained for a pretty long time. So without further ado, here is Helen! All right, so what is your age? I just turned 60! Oh, you just turned 60! When was that? I turned 60 in September. I think before turning 60, you have this fear, like, “Oh my god… Another decade.” And people regard you as “old”. You think of retirement, yeah… But yeah, I was thinking, because at 60, you get this “Joy Card” in Hong Kong. And then you get like discounts for transportation. Ohh okay! Anywhere you go, you'll be paying 2 Hong Kong dollars. Which means everybody will know that you're 60. And I was thinking, before I got the card, “Oh, would I actually use it? I'll use it when I'm alone… If I'm with people, would I use it? Cause then everybody would know I'm 60.” Then when I got it, it's like… What the heck! Just use it! I mean, I'm entitled to this! (Laughs) This discount to travel, because I've actually lived on Earth for 60 years, and contributed, and yeah! I should be proud! Amazing! I love that!! And what did you call it? Just a discount card? Or did it have a special name? It's called a Joy Card! A Joy Card! Which is is nice name, isn't it? Right! It's a nice name, right? Yeah. I love that!! Be happy! In your senior age. Yeah. That is so cool! Yeah. Let's see, so you live in Hong Kong right now. Did you grow up there? Where else have you lived? Okay. Yeah… I'm quite multi-national, in terms of where I've lived. So I was born in Japan. My parents are from China. But I was born in Japan, Tokyo. So I'm Chinese, born in Japan. Okay then, I did not actually do schooling in Japan, cause the family moved. I moved with my mother to Macao. And then from Macao… My parents divorced, so we were living there with my mom—me and my brother, in Macao. And then she found someone and remarried—an Australian Chinese. So we all moved to Sydney. Oh, wow! So in my teens, I actually moved to Australia, and grew up in Sydney. Did my education there, did my university there. Then after a few years, I married a Malaysian Chinese. And we moved to Singapore. And then the relationship didn't really work out, so my child was born in Singapore as well. So we divorced. And then the boss that I was working for, he was a Hong Kong Chinese, and he announced he was moving to Hong Kong, so would you like to come and work for me in Hong Kong? He just got a position, so he invited me if I was looking for something. So I said yeah okay, I'll come along with you. So that's how I ended up and stayed in Hong Kong. Read the full transcript on wisenotwithered.com!

If more people knew more ways to cook vegetables, do you think they would be more likely to eat healthier? Studies show that people who were more knowledgeable about cooking vegetables were more likely to report eating them regularly. Hetty Lui McKinnon is an award-winning Australian Chinese cookbook author. She is known for her vibrant and flavorful vegetarian recipes that are inspired by her Chinese heritage and global travels.

This week Anthony Albanese completed his first visit to China as prime minister - the first official top-level visit in about seven years. Greeting Albanese in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Australia and China have “worked out some problems”. Albanese said the pace of bilateral visits was increasing, and trade has begun to flow more freely between the countries. It's a fresh start for Australian-Chinese relations, after a years-long diplomatic and economic freeze, which included disputes over China's military threats towards Taiwan, the cases of several Australians detained in China, and the $20 billion in trade embargoes. Today, chief political correspondent David Crowe and north asia correspondent Eryk Bagshaw discuss the trip and what it means for the relationship going forward.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week Anthony Albanese completed his first visit to China as prime minister - the first official top-level visit in about seven years. Greeting Albanese in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Australia and China have “worked out some problems”. Albanese said the pace of bilateral visits was increasing, and trade has begun to flow more freely between the countries. It's a fresh start for Australian-Chinese relations, after a years-long diplomatic and economic freeze, which included disputes over China's military threats towards Taiwan, the cases of several Australians detained in China, and the $20 billion in trade embargoes. Today, chief political correspondent David Crowe and north asia correspondent Eryk Bagshaw discuss the trip and what it means for the relationship going forward.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Anthony Albanese is on his first official visit to Beijing. The Prime Minister has spoken with China's Premier Xi Jinping about human rights, the escalation of threats against Taiwan and trade bans on Australian exports. Xi praised the Prime Minister for his efforts to stabilise and improve relations with China. Albanese described the meeting as cordial and very successful. Has a new era dawned in Australian-Chinese relations? - Anthony Albanese ist zum ersten Mal zu einem offiziellen Besuch in Peking. Der Premierminister hat mit Chinas Premier Xi Jinping über Menschenrechte, die Eskalation der Drohungen gegen Taiwan und Handelsverbote für australische Exporte gesprochen. Xi lobte den Premierminister für seine Bemühungen um eine Stabilisierung und Verbesserung der Beziehungen zu China. Albanese bezeichnete das Treffen als herzlich und sehr erfolgreich. Ist eine neue Ära in den australisch-chinesischen Beziehungen angebrochen?

7:15AM: We listen back to some of the speeches from the National Action to Stop Black Deaths in Custody rally which took place in Naarm and around the country on Saturday.7:30AM: Patrick was joined by Jock Cheetham, Senior Lecturer in news and media in the Charles Sturt School of Information and Communication Studies about the impact of ‘Trumpian tactics' in the Voice to Parliament Referendum.7:50AM: Grace and Claudia speak with Dr Fan Yang, a research fellow at the University's Melbourne Law school and ARC Centre of Excellence for automated decision making and society. She joined us to talk about the way WeChat is facilitating information about the Voice referendum to the Australian-Chinese community and whether this group of voters are listening.8:10AM: Sunehra Speaks to Dr Daniel Featherstone who is the lead researcher of The “Mapping the Digital Gap” report, which found that people from remote First Nations communities are among the most digitally excluded people in Australia. Find out more about closing the gap in digital inclusion HERE.Music: Long Live Palestine by LowkeyAre you from TI? by The Mills SistersWomen's Business by Ruby Hunter 

Decca Classics is thrilled to announce the new album from Australian-Chinese violinist Christian Li. Having topped the UK Classical Charts with his debut album in 2021 (with which he became the youngest artist ever to record Vivaldi's Four Seasons) the award-winning musician prepares to release his second album, entitled ‘Discovering Mendelssohn', on 7th July.Track Listing:1 FELIX MENDELSSOHN: On Wings of Song from 6 Songs Op.34 3.132 FELIX MENDELSSOHN: 2 Rondo capriccioso Op.14 7.243 FRANZ SCHUBERT: 3 Serenade from Schwanengesang D.957 4.404 FELIX MENDELSSOHN: Spring Song from Songs Without Words Op.62 2.295 FELIX MENDELSSOHN: Violin Concerto in E minor Op.64 / I. Allegro molto appassionato6 II. Andante 7.477 III. Allegretto non troppo – Allegro molto vivace 6.378 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH: Erbarme dich, mein Gott from St Matthew Passion BWV 244 6.429 WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Violin Sonata No.21 in E minor K.304 / I. Allegro 9.2810 II. Tempo di Menuetto 6.1511 FELIX MENDELSSOHN: Venetian Gondola Song from Songs Without Words Op.62 2.59Help support our show by purchasing this album  at:Downloads (classicalmusicdiscoveries.store) Classical Music Discoveries is sponsored by Uber and Apple Classical. @CMDHedgecock#ClassicalMusicDiscoveries #KeepClassicalMusicAlive#CMDGrandOperaCompanyofVenice #CMDParisPhilharmonicinOrléans#CMDGermanOperaCompanyofBerlin#CMDGrandOperaCompanyofBarcelonaSpain#ClassicalMusicLivesOn#Uber#AppleClassical Please consider supporting our show, thank you!Donate (classicalmusicdiscoveries.store) staff@classicalmusicdiscoveries.com This album is broadcasted with the permission of Crossover Media Music Promotion (Zachary Swanson and Amanda Bloom).   

Astonishing claims from Lehrmann trial inquiry, grim future ahead following Labor's budget. Plus, James Macpherson joins the show to discuss the Trade Minister's visit to Beijing to stabilise Australian-Chinese relations.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"The G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia is marked by the importance of the meeting between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Chinese President Xi Jinping," said Professor Fathi Mansouri, Head of the Center for Globalization and Citizenship at Deakin University in Melbourne. - ذكر البروفيسور فتحي منصوري رئيس مركز العولمة والمواطنة في جامعة ديكن بمدينة ملبورن أن قمة مجموعة العشرين في بالي تتميز بأهمية اللقاء بين رئيس الوزراء أنتوني ألبانيزي والرئيس الصيني شي جين بينغ.

Chris Cheng is the Managing Director of Jetek Asia Digital, a digital marketing company, expert in developing and implementing digital strategies in the Chinese market. Having worked with many major brands across Australia, the US, the UK, and China, Chris shares his thoughts and insights into the opportunities and the best approach for western businesses looking to make in-roads into the Chinese market. He talks about the use of Chinese social media and social selling, and a mistake made by a past Australian Prime Minister in selling to the Australian Chinese community.

We sit down with Kirsten Collins to chat about this gorgeous anthology of vegetarian recipes, from Australian-Chinese author Hetty McKinnon. From "soupy salads" to desserts, we dig into the recipes, how they worked for us, and whether this is a cookbook we want to own. Resources mentioned in this episode: Family Prestel Publishing Hetty McKinnon Recipes mentioned in this episode: Salt-oil rice with coconut stewed spinach and tofu My Great Aunt's chana masala Deconstructed falafel salad Tofu larb Chickpea, kale and feta stew with za'atar baked eggs Golden egg curry Za'atar, zucchini and mascarpone slab galette Miso, brown butter and crispy sage pasta Gnocchi with asparagus, edamame and parmesan Waldorf-esque salad Turmeric chickpea soup with charred Brussels sprouts Carrot soup Tomato cobbler Polenta with baked tomato mushrooms Brussels sprouts gratin Orange and rosemary olive oil cake Lime pie with Anzac biscuit crust Any fruit crumble About our Guest: Kirsten Collins is the co-founder of our real-life Cookbook Club. Join our Cookbook Club! Our Instagram, @cookbookclubshow E-mail us: cookbookclubshow@gmail.com Find Renee and Sara on Instagram: @hipchickdigs and @realtor_saragray Cook along with us! Next cookbook episode (releasing 7/13/2022): Zahav, by Michael Solomonov

Leonie talks through some of the confusion around Australian Chinese political relations

How secular, or not, is China today? As many of us celebrate Lunar New Year, Soul Search heads to China. Professor Mayfair Yang discusses the resurgence of popular religion in China – from local cults to lineage organisations, Protestant Christianity to modern Taoism. Then we chat to British-born, Australian-Chinese illustrator, Chrissy Lau, who is at the forefront of modern representations of Lunar New Year – reimagining her own heritage for a new generation.

The rollout of free rapid antigen tests to eligible Aussies was only launched today, but has already hit a major snag, scientists are keeping a close watch on the recently-discovered sub-variant of the Covid-19 virus, the PM's WeChat page hacked and renamed “Australian Chinese new life”, Ash Barty topples America's Amanda Anisimova in straight sets in the singles draw on Sunday night to book her spot in the quarter-finals at Melbourne Park. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Leonie chats about the current tension in Australian/Chinese business relations

Episode Notes:Today's guest is Joanna Chiu, a long-time journalist covering China from both inside and outside the country, co-founder and chair of the editorial collective 'NüVoices 女性之音', and the author of the new book "China Unbound." She now covers Canada-China issues for the Toronto Star. Joanna, welcome to the podcast.4:20 on Huawei, Meng Wanzhou and the two Michaels - when the whole Huawei, Meng Wanzhou saga was unfolding, I got so many questions from not just Canadian journalists, but media around the world about what was going on. I think it's surprising to us because we've been in the China-watching bubble, but more broadly, what happened was very shocking for a lot of people all over the world23:20 people like me and my family aren't fully accepted as Canadians or as Australians or as Americans, it's always like a hyphen, like Chinese-Canadian, Chinese-American. That just plays into what Beijing wants. When people of Chinese descent are taken as political prisoners or get calls from Chinese police saying, "Stop supporting Hong Kong on social media or stop doing this," these people get less attention. They're not taken seriously when they try to report what's happening because unfortunately a lot of people in the West have accepted the CCP's myth that we're still essentially Chinese36:20 on Canada-China relations - in Canada, the mood after the Michaels returned and the Meng case was resolved is that they really want to go back to business as usual. To not have any kind of plan in place on how to prevent Canadian hostages from being taken in the future. The Prime Ministers office really steering this even though other parts of government was like, "We need some sort of plan, we need some sort of update to foreign policy in general." There's very little political will.Links: China Unbound on Amazon. Joanna Chiu’s websiteNüVoices 女性之音Transcript:Bill:Hi everyone, today's guest is Joanna Chiu, a long-time journalist covering China from both inside and outside the country, co-founder and chair of the editorial collective 'NüVoices', and the author of the new book "China Unbound." She now covers Canada-China issues for the Toronto Star. Joanna, welcome to the podcast.Joanna:Thank you Bill, thanks for having me on your new podcast, very exciting.Bill:Thanks, yeah you are the second guest, and so I'm really happy to have this opportunity to speak with you. Before we dig into your book, could you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you ended up where you are and doing what you do?Joanna:Okay. I guess my bio is that my family is one of the many who left Hong Kong after the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests because my parents were worried about what would happen going forward. So growing up in Canada, I felt that China was actually part of my whole family story because what happened led to my family uprooting themselves. So I was always really interested in China and studied Chinese history and wanted to return to be a reporter to chronicle what was happening in the country, which I was so fascinated by.Joanna:So I started reporting on the ground in Hong Kong in 2012, covering all the things that happened there including the Occupy to pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong. I moved to Beijing in 2014 and that's where I started covering basically everything in the whole country for European media outlets, including German, Deutsche Presse-Agentur, and AFP (Agence France-Presse). And I guess my career was a bit unique in that I also free-lanced for several stints. So I got to kind of get a sense of what many different jurisdictions and countries wanted to know about China in my time there writing for all sorts of outlets.Bill:Interesting and so I was there until 2015 and I think we overlapped for just about a year. When did you actually leave China to go back to Canada?Joanna:Yeah, I left China in late 2018. I wanted to stay for longer because even seven years on the ground I felt I barely got to scratch the surface of all the things that I could write about in China. Especially because I had such a broad remit where I was a front-line reporter for all of these major events but also could do basically any feature story I wanted. So it was just totally open and I could have stayed there for decades, but I had to go back to Canada. I got asthma from the smog and I think my Canadian lungs just couldn't handle air. I was just like really allergic to Beijing as soon as I landed and I stuck it out for four years. But back in Canada, I felt I would have to move on from my passion and interest in China, but a couple of months after I returned, Meng Wanzhou, a Huawei executive was detained in the Vancouver International Airport. And just over a week later, two Michaels were detained. So definitely I think that was the biggest China story at the time, and it continued to be very impactful around the world.Joanna:So I started covering that and it just led to basically being a reporter for the Toronto Star, focusing on China. And that's what I've been doing since then. I have also been working on my book since early 2019. So not my plan, but definitely the past decade has been very China focused, including my last few years.Bill:It's great, I've always been a fan of your work, and I will say, it's very interesting how many foreign correspondents used to live in China have left the country. Some willingly, some not willingly, but how it turns out how most of them have found jobs covering how China's impacting the world wherever they're now based.Joanna:Mm-hmm (affirmative).Bill:I think that's a good segue into talking about your book because it really is true that the China story is everywhere now. And that's something, I think, you try and capture in "China Unbound." So tell us who you wrote it for, why you wrote it, and what do you hope that the readers take away from it?Joanna:Mm-hmm (affirmative). So when the whole Huawei, Meng Wanzhou saga was unfolding, I got so many questions from not just Canadian journalists, but media around the world about what was going on. I think it's surprising to us because we've been in the China-watching bubble, but more broadly, what happened was very shocking for a lot of people all over the world. They didn't know the context of Beijing's political system and its increasing ... how its authoritarianism translates also into its foreign policy and its stances towards different countries and diaspora groups all over the world. But these things were not just stories I covered, but stories that were close to my life. Because growing up, my father worked for a Chinese-Canadian radio station and people were talking already then about pressure to self-censor, pressure from the Chinese embassy on Canadian media outlets. This was happening in the 90s and people of Chinese descent around the world were trying to have discussions about this, but basically not really getting much traction or broader public attention.Joanna:It did seem ... I will ask you if this is what you felt, but it took two white men from Canada being taken hostage over this high-profile executive's arrest in Canada for a lot of people in the world to be like, "Wait, what's going on? How will Beijing's political system and authoritarianism possibly impact me and my family or my country or my business?" So I wrote this book for basically everyone, targeting the general reader because I really try to be as immediate as possible in my writing. Most of the reporting is eyewitness reporting from myself in collaboration with journalists around the world and looking at how we got to this point. Western countries and China, how we got to this point where it seems like a lot of obstacles that seem insurmountable. All of these tensions, all of these worries.Joanna:I wanted for people to start with this book and then I provided this long reading list at the end so they can continue to be engaging with these issues. Because I feel that we might not have really noticed, but a lot of the narratives around China in the mainstream public have been very very simplified. And that is a disservice to all countries. And especially to the people who end up being targets and whose lives end up being affected by some of these big conflicts going on.Bill:What you said earlier about it really taking two white men, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig to get people's attention. It's interesting because these pressures have existed, as you said talking about your father and his experience, but these pressures on the diaspora have existed for decades. They've certainly intensified, and you have multiple instances of ethnic Chinese who are jailed in China, American, Australian, where it didn't seem to kind of capture the national attention the way that the detention of the two Michaels did. And that's unfortunate, but it does feel like the conversation and awareness now has shifted and so there's a lot more awareness that these kind of pressures are existing across all sorts of communities. You can tell me I'm wrong, but the Chinese government has also shifted its approach, hasn't it? Sort of widened its net in terms of how they pressure?Joanna:Yeah, so in the past, you know the united front, a lot of that work of foreign influence in both intimidation and providing carrots and sticks. Flattering global politicians and global members of the elite among the diaspora have been going on, but the most harsh efforts of influence in the past I think were mostly directed at people of Asian descent. It was only in more recent years where the really harsh tactic, the detentions, have been applied to foreign nationals who are not of Asian descent. It seems like that is a deliberate shift in tactics, would you agree?Bill:No, I would. And I think it's interesting when you look at sort of who they've targeted, especially around the Meng Wanzhou case. Two Canadians were very quickly arrested, a third Canadian who had been convicted of dealing drugs had a re-sentence to death. There's still no word about Schellenberg's fate in the wake of the Meng Wanzhou deal. But I think that one thing that's interesting is they've yet to target Caucasian Americans. And so far, certainly what I was fearing in the Meng Wanzhou incident was that ... someone had told me that they had put together lists who they might target but they held back because part of the messaging is they're at least today not quite ready to go toe-to-toe with the U.S.. But willing to penalize countries and the citizens of the countries that are seen as effectively being U.S. allies or lackeys depending on who you're speaking with. Does that make sense?Joanna:Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yeah, that makes sense. And my book, people have said that because I'm Canadian and I spotlight countries and experiences like Australia, Italy, Greece, Turkey. So so-called middle powers, that middle-power perspective, whereas many books out of the U.S. and China have it from the U.S. perspective.Bill:Right, right.Joanna:And I think that's important context for Americans to understand because in America, it seems like a lot of it is about this almost glorious competition with China where the U.S. has to win. I have been kind of mortified that people commenting on my book have said things like, "We need to read this so that we can win and not let China win." Things like that. But if they had actually read it, they would have probably seen that that's not right. I criticize the Western nations' handling and attitudes towards China as much as I criticize Beijing's actions. So I would also point out that Australian journalists who are white were affecting. Bill Birtles and Michael Smith spent days holed up in their Australian embassies in China. Basically fleeing because they got tipped off that otherwise they might get detained. Related to Australia's more aggressive critical stance towards China as of late.Bill:And also-Joanna:It does seem-Bill:Sorry, was it also related to the detention of Australian Chinese ... Australian journalist Cheng Lei who was originally Chinese then naturalized into Australian citizenship. And she's disappeared into the system in China, right?Joanna:Yeah, so Cheng Lei ... Again, while she's not a global household name like the two Michaels, she is actually detained. Her case ... we know very little about it, but it seems very clear it's related to the political situation between the two countries. And also Bloomberg journal Haze Fan ... and I think actually Haze's case might be as close as China has gotten so far to targeting Americans because even though a Chinese national, she worked for Bloomberg. She was a prominent journalist for Bloomberg. So it's interesting because writing this book, I'm trying to provide this nuance and context for the public but under so much pressure because of global contexts. Things are so tense that it could get worse at any moment and you don't know. You're hearing from your sources about a list that they were preparing of Americans they could possibly target. The stakes are so high.Joanna:Both of us, these are people we know. I don't know if you knew Kovrig, but it's a relief that he's back.Bill:Not well, but I did know a little bit.Joanna:For the more than 1,000 days he was in detention, I was writing this book and that was always on my mind. It's so immediate and it's so urgent for more people to understand what's going on rather than I think fanning the flames or making things worse or not using the opportunities there are to engage more productively with China. But we see the dialogue on China becoming so toxic right now, where it's almost as if there's two camps. The more extreme on both sides seem to get more airtime and interest. And people want those nuggets of talking points on China that really signify this is how we fight back. Rather than the people who are trying to provide a lot more context. It's not as easy as doing this or that to resolve everything or get what you want.Bill:Well with what you said earlier about sort of "we have to win," I have yet to see a clear definition of the theory of victory and what it is. The other thing I'd say, and this will lead into my next question is, we talk about in many ways how toxic the discourse has gotten in the West. It's also incredibly toxic inside China in very worrisome ways. And in many ways, sort of state-supported and state-encouraged ways. One of the questions I want to ask you is how we ... So first question is as you talk about in the book and you've talked about in other places, this whole discussion around Chinese Communist Party influence or interference in other countries ... Whether it's through the United Front or other means or vectors ... How do we differentiate what we should actually, "we" being the countries that are targeted ... How should you differentiate what actually matters that people should be concerned with versus that's the normal thing that a foreign government would do to try and improve other countries' perceptions of that country and advance their interests in those countries.Bill:And related, as this discourse does get more toxic, how do we talk about these things without tipping into racism? In the U.S. certainly, we have a really long and nasty history of anti-Asian and specifically anti-Chinese racism. And there are a lot of reasons to be very worried about going too far where we're back in a very dark place in terms of how people of Asian and Chinese descent are treated in this country. But at the same time, there are real issues and potential threats coming from some of these PRC activities. So how do we talk about that in a way that effectively deals with the problems but also makes sure that people are safe and able to enjoy the rights that they deserve and have?Joanna:Yeah and that's why I try to provide a lot of that history concisely within each chapter of the book because we need to know what happened before to know to be a lot more careful with our language and our actions now. Because definitely it just seems like history is repeating itself during the McCarthy era. Chinese-Americans' loyalties are constantly questioned, they lost their jobs. And now former President Trump has said that he thinks basically all students are possibly Chinese spies. We've seen these prosecutions of certain Chinese national scientist professors in America that were basically pretty embarrassing.Bill:Yes.Joanna:It seemed a lot of the suspicions were unfounded and it was almost like a witch-hunt which is really difficult. When things seemed politicized and politically motivated and you put a blanket suspicion on all these people, it's exactly what happened in the past.Bill:Mm-hmm (affirmative)Joanna:And it's not just America. It was in Canada, Australia, Europe. In Canada, we had internment of Japanese Canadians during World War II. And people know that this is in the background. And even before things got more tense when a lot of the approach among Western countries towards China was that the goal was to expand trade ties and economic ties as much as possible, there was still a lot of racism. Walking down the street, I got called slurs like the c-word in downtown Vancouver multiple times.Bill:Recently?Joanna:Throughout my life living in Canada. In Vancouver, particularly, there was a long-standing stereotype of the crazy rich Asian that was ruining the city with our Maseratis and condo buying.Bill:Wasn't there a reality show that was based on rich Chinese in Vancouver, I think?Joanna:Yeah, there was that and there's a lot of scapegoating against East Asians for lots of problems with COVID-19 and all this with the two Michaels in Huawei. This just really spiked particularly in countries like Canada, U.S., Australia with the large Chinese diaspora in many places. People who weren't even Chinese, like an indigenous woman in Canada, she was punched in the face. Things like that. And its not like we can throw up our hands and be like, "People are just going to be racist, this is just going to happen." I think a lot of people in positions of influence and politicians need to take responsibility for what they've done to stoke this behavior and not condone it. So talking to certain politicians in Canada in the conservative party, they tell me that there's been a shift in strategy to talk about China as the Chinese Communist Party, the communist regime, to deliberately stir up a red scare. In the U.S. definitely, the FBI in an announcement about one of its investigations into a Chinese American scientist said the words "Chinese Communist regime" or "Chinese Communist government" five times.Bill:That was the announcement about the MIT professor, was it Chen Gang, I think?Joanna:Yeah, I think so.Bill:The prosecutor or the FBI folks up in Boston, I believe.Joanna:Right. Yeah, that was the one. And it's just not necessary. You don't need to ... My argument is that the facts about what Beijing is doing are urgent and sobering enough. You don't really need to embellish it with this language of trying to get people scared of this Communist entity. But perhaps it's more to do with domestic politics in each place. Someone explained it to me in the U.S. where pretty much everyone is critical of China. You don't get more attention by just being moderately critical, you have to be really more extreme. It's as if it's like a competition to be as hawkish as possible to get that acclaim and public support.Bill:And as you said, it's unnecessary because as you just said, the facts can speak for themselves in many areas. And it again, it goes back to how do we have rational discussion about what the problems and challenges are without tipping over into something that's really nasty and scary. It's something I struggle with, obviously in my newsletter, I have ... It's funny when you write about China, I have people who think I'm a CCP apologist and people who think I'm way too hawkish. You sort of can't win, it's such a fraught topic that it is something I struggle with. Because you certainly don't want to be in a position where you're stirring things up, but at the same time you can't just throw up your hands and say, "Well we're not going to deal with this because it's too dangerous." I mean, it's too dangerous the other way too, right? But it's really difficult, and the question I have is, do you think the powers in Beijing understand this? Is this something they try to use or leverage?Joanna:Oh yeah, I think so. I think it plays right into what Beijing wants. Because the myth it has been promoting for years is that China is the center of Chinese civilization even if your family has been away from China for generations, you're still Chinese. And since you're still Chinese, your de-facto leader is still the CCP. It's a legitimate power for all Chinese people. Because people like me and my family aren't fully accepted as Canadians or as Australians or as Americans, it's always like a hyphen, like Chinese-Canadian, Chinese-American. That just plays into what Beijing wants. When people of Chinese descent are taken as political prisoners or get calls from Chinese police saying, "Stop supporting Hong Kong on social media or stop doing this," these people get less attention. They're not taken seriously when they try to report what's happening because unfortunately a lot of people in the West have accepted the CCP's myth that we're still essentially Chinese. It's in the law, if there's dual-nationality, they don't accept the second nationality.Joanna:But even more than that, I still worry that ... it's happened to people like me. I actually gave up my Hong Kong citizenship, I'm only Canadian. But just because of my Chinese blood, I'm at greater risk of whatever repercussions. I've definitely been singled out when I was a foreign correspondent in Beijing for writing too much about human rights. And they did not say the same things about other people in my office. So by not listening to people in the diaspora and still treating them as they're still outsiders, we're with this connection to China whether we agree or not, that's really playing into it. And also when there's this racism, Chinese media, Chinese embassies, they've been really up front about condemning this and using it as a way to shore up loyalty among overseas Chinese, especially people who are more recent immigrants to get that support. There's so many of these China Friendship associations around the world. It's tough to understand their impact because it's all basically legal. They are these groups that openly support Beijing's policies all around the world. And they have, in my reporting, taken part in basically trying to make friends with politicians around the world and using those interviews, events, photographs to turn into propaganda to say, "We got support from this politician." There were groups that have offered money for people to vote for certain candidates in other countries' elections.Joanna:So it's complicated because when these groups are alienated, when they still feel that ... On a pragmatic level, it makes better sense for them to have good relations with Beijing. These groups are going to increase and proliferate and it's hard to understand what they're doing because you don't want to villainize it. In a way it's very natural for people, say, with business ties in China to try to hob-nob with Chinese embassies and try to support them. When I do report on some of these activities like the potential vote buying and interfering in elections, people use it as an excuse to say, "Oh, everyone's like that. All recent immigrants are working for the CCP." And that just puts a lot of reporters and researchers in these really tricky situations where you want to report on what's going on, but because discourse just fails to be nuanced enough, people just kind of take it as a reason to be more hostile and to not really open up their minds that there's a diversity of opinions among Chinese people and the Chinese diaspora.Bill:And it's also hard I think because so much of it happens in Mandarin or other Chinese dialects, so most people who don't speak the language have no idea what's going on.Joanna:Mm-hmm (affirmative). But it's been such a rich field of potential reporting for me, going back to Canada. It's really, really resitting. I have been able to read all of these reports. I've been able to translate these posts into English for audiences who found it really interesting. But I would argue that it's not actually that hard because there are so many Chinese speakers all over the world. It's not like it's a niche population, like a small population. In these stories where Steve Bannon and Miles Kwok's like cultish group was protesting outside a Canadian journalist's house accusing him of being a Chinese spy, when he was actually critical of Beijing. There were death threats.Bill:They did that to a bunch of people in America too. They had a whole program of targeting people.Joanna:Yeah, New Jersey.Bill:Yeah.Joanna:Yeah, so in that case. In Texas, with Pastor Bob Fu, he was one of the targets. And the FBI came in, the bomb squad, they put him and his family in a safe house. But in Canada, police monitored it, checked in once in a while. I actually sent them videos, like this looks like a death threat. And I actually ... Me and my colleagues, we translated some of this information and we posted it on YouTube to explain what was going on. But then it took three months later, this going on in Canada ... Two of these protestors just savagely beat one of the target's friends. And the police were responding to questions of why didn't you step in earlier, there were death threats? They admitted that they were slow with the investigation because they didn't have Chinese language resources. And that doesn't make sense really, in Vancouver, when there are so many people of Chinese descent. It's not hard to find someone to look at something and translate it to understand it.Joanna:In the conclusion of my book, one of the points I make is that information in Chinese language is treated like a secret code that can't be cracked. Instead, people like Newt Gingrich and other kind of just make things up. In his book, Newt Gingrich ... I don't quite remember but he just provided nonsensical translations of Chinese words and then extrapolated a whole bunch of theories about China based on that. Which is insulting to all of the people, not just of Chinese descent, but people like you who have taken the time to learn Mandarin and to understand China.Bill:There's a lot of that here in the U.S., I don't know how much it exists in other countries. But certainly the taking stuff out of context or just crappy language skills. And then, like you said, extrapolating something much bigger and darker and nefarious than in many cases it actually is, for sure.Joanna:Yeah. In the U.S. people tell me that they do have Chinese speakers, but lower down in the chain who provide reports and information. But going up the chain, the politicians and the pundits, they pick and choose information to support what they believe already. So these researchers feel like they're not even being heard because politicians are just grabbing what they want anyways. In many cases, people of Chinese descent are worried about even going to China or talking about their family in China because they're not going to get promoted to more influential positions. They're not going to get security clearance because the assumption is that if you have any sort of China ties that you might be compromised. And that's a very prejudicious trend in D.C.Bill:When I moved back to D.C. after ten years, I had no interest in working for the government, but I had a funny conversation with someone who does have security clearance. He says, "Don't even bother to apply, you'll never get a security clearance because you lived in China for too long."Joanna:That's crazy.Bill:That's fine, but there are reasons for governments to be concerned with ties to other foreign governments, but certainly for folks of Chinese descent it's much more pernicious. And it does seem like in many places the assumption is that you're potentially at risk of compromise. One of the problems is how people's families are being leveraged back in China. You see it in the way the persecutions of the Uyghurs and Tibetans. But you see it also in Han Chinese, people who are doing things that are considered controversial or anti-China outside of China. It's a very common tactic, right, to harass, hassle, otherwise make difficult for family members back in China, right?Joanna:Yeah, and that is a major ... There's no solution to that. I tried to spotlight a lot of these voices in the book. I spoke with people like Vicky Xu, the campaign against her has just been ridiculous. People made fake porn of her, thousands of accounts were basically attacking her, doxxing her.Bill:I feel like that story didn't get as much attention as maybe it should have. She was just so brutally targeted by very obviously state-backed campaigns.Joanna:Yeah. Very personal and they started with her family. She's been open about that, how her family and parents have been pressured. But she didn't stop her work, so they went further. They sent thousands of accounts and they made fake pornography about her so that when people search in Chinese, that's what comes up. And trying to completely smear her character. But that story did not get that much attention.Bill:This is because of her work at the ASPI down in Australia, right? Specifically around XinjiangJoanna:Xinjiang, yeah. I think she's one of the main researchers in Australia that focused on Xinjiang. The bigger issues looking at supply chains, looking at forced labor, and where internment camps are. Recently she found a trove of police documents about the repression. And because of her fluent Chinese and her networks, she was able to find this and provide this information. So people like her, I think, Beijing wants the most to silence and has the means and leverage to try to do so. I think she's unique in that she continues to do this work. We're not sure for how long because you have to wonder how long someone can take this.Bill:Right.Joanna:More people that I know of are either operating anonymously, they're really providing subtle advising roles to governments in a very very anonymous manner. Because they're worried about their families. Or they're writing under pseudonyms and they don't get a lot of attention because no one knows who they are. They're worried about ... not even access. I think a lot of researchers worry about being able to go back to China. At different levels, people who are worried about the safety of themselves and their family members.Bill:So just given the trajectory of China under Xi Jinping, is there any reason to think this is going to get better? Or are we sort of more close to the beginning of where this trajectory goes?Joanna:Mm-hmm (affirmative) I think we're kind of at a pivotal point. A lot of it isn't waiting for what Beijing does, but there's a responsibly on Western countries to at least be smarter about China and to have proper expertise in places of governments to try to even have some well thought out policy on these issues. In the U.S. Cabinet, very little China experience. And like we talked about, the people with experience ... They have trouble having influence. And in Canada, the mood after the Michaels returned and the Meng case was resolved is that they really want to go back to business as usual. To not have any kind of plan in place on how to prevent Canadian hostages from being taken in the future. The Prime Ministers office really steering this even though other parts of government was like, "We need some sort of plan, we need some sort of update to foreign policy in general." There's very little political will. I think the amount of criticism in different countries' media doesn't reflect the lack of political will of governments to even put the basic structures in place to understand China better. To be able to translate basic things from Chinese into English to be aware of.Bill:And in Canada, why do you thing that is? Especially given the diversity of Canada and the number of people of Chinese descent in the country. But also what just happened over the last close to three years. Why wouldn't the government have had a bit more of a shift in views of how the relationship in China should go?Joanna:Mm-hmm (affirmative) I think it's related partly to what we were talking about before where politicians are worried about stoking racism, losing support from Canadians of Chinese descent. Partly an election issue, and I think traditionally in Canada, the main government advisors on China have been people in the business world who do have a vested interest in making sure that tensions are as low as possible to facilitate smoother business interactions. But that's also not even the case where if you ... I think the idea in the West has been reformed through trade. Through interactions, economically, China will naturally liberalize, become more democratic. But in recent years, we've seen political tensions move over to economic coercion, economic retaliation. Not just from China but back and forth, with America, Australia, other countries have also did tit-for-tat trade tariffs. Different ways where the political situation can impact the economic relationships. So it's not even necessarily the case that just by focusing on business, everything will be all good. I think a lot of politicians are trying to put their head in the sands about that and not trying to understand the really complex situation unfolding. And Canadians on the whole, surveys show, pretty frustrated about the situation in action and just passiveness that they see from Ottawa.Bill:I guess the Huawei decision will be interesting, whether or not Huawei is allowed into the Canadian 5G network construction. Certainly here in D.C., there's all the factors you talked about and there's a lot of opportunity for lobbyists from various industries and companies to sort of shift Biden administration and Capitol thinking to policies that are more likely to make money dealing with China. And that certainly has an impact on the policies. So just shifting gears quickly because we're almost out of time and this has been a really great conversation. One of the things we were talking about was lifting up and getting more diversity of voices. Can you tell the listeners about NüVoices and what you helped create there? I found that to be a really wonderful and useful project that's been up for a couple years now? Or has it been three years? Time just sort of blended away with the pandemic, right?Joanna:So actually we were founded in 2017.Bill:Oh my gosh, okay.Joanna:In Beijing, so it's almost under five years. It's been like a daily kind of passion project in the community for me. We kind of wanted to create a more open and accepting China space, both in person with events and chapters around the world and also virtually. And it started in reaction with panels and book deals. The people who get platformed on China are often white male experts. No offense to yourself.Bill:People like me. No, no, I get it. I get it.Joanna:You're one of our longtime supporters and our patrons and we've spoken about how this helps to create a better world for your kids, for your daughters. Because we want to remove any excuses that people have for not even having one woman on their panel. Five years ago, people just kept saying to us and our co-founders, "We tried to find a female expert, but we couldn't find one." Or "We couldn't find a woman on this topic." Which is ridiculous because looking around, actually people we know, I see more women than men entering these fields. Definitely being a journalist in China, there's more women than men. And women who can speak Chinese and doing great work. So we created this open-source directory. Now it has more than 600 people all around the world who are women or non-binary on all sorts of topics. And speaking all sorts of languages in all sorts of time zones. I think just that project alone helped to remove those excuses. Any time someone makes an excuse that they couldn't find a woman, someone just has to send that person the link to this directory. No more excuses.Joanna:And on top of that we have a twice monthly podcast which I co-host sometimes and events all around the world. And basically social groups and networks and it's a platform so that people can benefit from this supportive atmosphere. We really try and celebrate diverse voices on China, experts on China. I find that women tend to ... because they're facing so much discrimination, women experts often have to fight harder to provide unique insights and reporting. So the kind of good quality you get just reaching out to any female expert in China, its a pretty good bet on fresh and interesting perspectives. And definitely I found that the case with my book. Because you know I tried to practice what I preach and most of my sources are coming from diverse backgrounds, women and minorities ... I shouldn't even use the word "minorities", people who aren't white basically.Bill:Mm-hmm (affirmative) right.Joanna:In each country, and I think that provides a different layer than people who enjoy positions of more power in those countries, who might not see some of the more uglier sides or the more complicated sides because that's not their experience. They're not getting the five star treatment when they go to China that a lot people in power do.Bill:It's definitely one of the things I enjoy about your book, it does have these different perspectives that are so important as we are all sort of trying to figure out what's going on and start thinking about what we can do. Specifically, NüVoices, I was looking at the directory last week. I think it's like 620 entries or something, I'm certainly planning to mine it for guests for the podcast because it's a really tremendous resource. And I will put a link to it in the show notes when we publish the podcast. Well thank you so much, is there anything else you'd like to add or say to the audience? Other than buy your book, "China Unbound", it's a great book. Please go ahead and go buy it and read it. It's a great book.Joanna:Just asking yourself, being based in the U.S., what are the best avenues for a more productive conversations on China? Instead of going to people who are more simplistic, what are some more resources you'd recommend? Including, of course your newsletter and that community. But who's doing the work to make up more well-informed approaches?Bill:That's a great question, and I'm not actually sure I have a good answer. I'm struggling with that and part of it is maybe that I'm based in D.C. where it is quite ... It's difficult to be in D.C. and to be not hawkish about China if you want to get ahead in certain parts of the government here. And so, I'm not actually sure. I know that there's China Twitter ... I mean Twitter in general is just kind of a cesspool and China Twitter is not a productive or constructive place for discourse about anything. I don't know, I wish I had a better answer for you, I need to think about it more.Joanna:Mm-hmm (affirmative)Bill:Do you have any guesses or any suggestions?Joanna:I was expecting a more simplified reaction to my book, but actually all the events I've been doing so far are conversations with academics and fellow reporters have been really nuanced. And it seems like there's a hunger for people who want to admit there are no simple solutions and to talk about that. But it doesn't' seem like here's a particular space or a think tank that has that approach. It seems-Bill:The think tanks probably are the place. I mean there are other ... The folks at SupChina are trying to do that. I don't know if you've talked to them. Kaiser's got his podcast and they do their conference. I think their conference ... We're recording on the 1st of November so they're I think next week. But in general, I don't know, it's also ... Like anything, it's hard to have a more textured or kind of deeper discussion in these 30 minute chunks or when you're sitting on a panel. It's just putting in the time and having ... Like you're doing, talking to me and you're talking to lots of people for your book. And this is a topic that has probably come up in most of your conversations and it's just something we're going to have to keep talking about. I know over the next few months there are at least two more books that are coming out about China's influence in the world. And so it'll be interesting to see where those goes in terms of how they impact or move the discourse and how those get played. And again, I think it's like I said, me struggling with how do you address these issues that are very real and influence interference without going overboard and over-exaggerating and destroying innocent people's lives. Which I think has already happened and continues to be a big risk.Joanna:I do think simple answers that people need to pay better attention and not just to get a shallow understanding, but to really understand the nitty-gritty and try to untangle complexities. And support the people who are trying to do this work. A lot of their names are in my book. If you don't want to buy it, flip to the back of the notes and you'll get their names and look up those articles. People like Yangyang Cheng, Helen Gao. People who are straddling both worlds, Chinese and Western. Because of those real lived experiences, their perspectives are just naturally very nuanced and insightful, I think. So people are doing this work, its just they're not the ones on CNN and getting book deals because of structures power. So support NüVoices.Bill:Absolutely. Like you said, I'm a supporter of NüVoices, I'm very happy to put a link to that as well. Support you through Patreon, right? We should move you over to Substack, but that's a different discussion. That's my bias. Well look, thank you so much. It's really been a pleasure to speak with you and I hope that many of you listeners will go out and buy the book. It's really a worthwhile read and Joanna really has great reporting, great perspectives. And this book is really important contribution to the conversation we all need to be having about China and the future and China's role in the world. So thank you and hope to talk to you again soon.Joanna:Thank you so much for all of your work, really platforming those more quality, well-informed sources on China. You've run the newsletter for a long time, so I think that makes a big difference as well because you use your expertise to point people to credible, good sources. So I'll also subscribe to your newsletter.Bill:Thank you. Get full access to Sinocism at sinocism.com/subscribe

Welcome to the 90th episode of Yesterday's Capers. Every week, Abdullah Moallim will be reviewing and looking back at some of the most memorable and well known tv shows and cartoons from the past. Every week Abdullah and a contributor will compare two different shows, and put them head to head, as well as having an in-depth discussion about a specific show.For the next few episodes we're going back to school as we look back some of the most iconic and memorable school shows that the world has to offer. This week we look back at the Australian-Chinese collaboration Magic Mountain and we put it up against the CITV classic Mopatop's Shop. And we take a special look at a special show in Bear in the Big Blue House. We reflect on these three great shows and celebrate their successes and how educational each show was. We also talk episodes, classic moments and the best parts about each show.Yesterday's Capers is available to subscribe and download on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play and anywhere podcasts are found.For any questions and queries email us at yesterdayscapers@gmail.comYou can follow the podcast on Twitter @yesterdaycapers, on Instagram @yesterdaycapers1 and subscribe on YouTube at 'Yesterday's Capers.'The theme song is 'Clap and Yell' from Bensound. You can find this and a whole host of music on www.bensound.com 

Welcome back, pals! The Olympics are over for another four years so we leave them with a wholesome chat about Tom Daley and Jasmine's new hobby. Actor Matt Damon stated in an interview with the Sunday Times that he's recently retired the f-slur after receiving a long letter from his teenage daughter. Between the Prime Minister empathising with Brittany Higgins only after speaking with his wife about their daughters and this Hollywood A-lister LOUDLY airing his homophobia, we discuss the ‘daughter effect' that seems to be plaguing men in positions of power. We recite research from this article and read from a piece for MSNBC by Liz Plank titled Matt Damon and the Twisted Cultrual Norm of the ‘Daughter Effect'. Literal legend Rihanna, (queen of pop music, lingerie and beauty) has officially entered the Billionaire's Club. We debate our feelings around this and reference some pieces including Tayo Bero's piece for Refinery29 titled Rihanna is the Only Billionaire Allowed to Exist and Akin Olla's piece for the Guardian Sorry, Rihanna. I Can't Celebrate Billionaires - Even if They are Black. For our recommendations, Maggie read this truly unhinged celebrity chef profile by Tim Elliott for The Age while Jas recommends She Is Haunted. A moving debut book of short stories by Australian Chinese writer, Paige Clark.Katie Zhou created our fab new cover art and India Raine is our wonderful producer and composer of our jingle. Email us at cultureclubmail@gmail.com, find us on Instagram @cultureclubpod, or on our personal accounts @jasmineeskye and @yemagz. That's all from us! Stay safe and stay sane.Mags and Jas xoxo 

This episode of The Healthy Hustlers is proudly brought to you by Lovekins, an all-natural, organic and toxic-free, Australian skincare range for women and babies. Today I have a very special lady joining me on the microphones for the second episode of the entrepreneur series.Amanda Essery is the creative force and incredible mind behind my favourite, all-natural Baby and Women skincare brand, Lovekins. It was a humble beginning for Amanda who started making homemade skincare products from her kitchen bench to support her babies' eczema conditions. A 6th generation Australian Chinese, Amanda was born and raised in Darwin where she was immersed in a wholesome upbringing with clean air, freshwater, and organic food from the local farmers' markets. From this upbringing, Amanda was able to learn about the power of native, indigenous superfoods.Going to school with Indigenous children and immersed in the indigenous community in Northern Territory Amanda has a true passion for indigenous culture, it was through this that Amanda was able to develop a beautiful knowledge of how Indigenous Australians have harnessed the power of bush extracts as food and medicine for over 60,000 years.Combining her knowledge with her desire for low tox, healthy living for all, Lovekins was born and Amanda set out on an almighty mission to provide all Australian babies and women with natural products that would help them thrive.Today we chat about Amanda's journey building Lovekins, the lessons, and what it truly takes to create a purpose-driven brand.Shop Lovekins all-natural women's and babies range: https://www.lovekins.com/collections/allFollow Lovekins: https://www.instagram.com/lovekins_australia/Follow Amanda: https://www.instagram.com/amanda.essery/Follow your host, Madelyn: https://www.instagram.com/madelyncarafaFor all podcast updates and guest announcements follow: https://www.instagram.com/thehealthyhustlersJoin me and other hustling females in our supportive Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/288287145154102

In this episode, we have invited Ivy Chen, Principal Consultant of CSA Global and Director of Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) to the show. Ivy is also a Director at Western Power and Football West. Ivy is a skilled and knowledgeable geologist whose adept at incorporating technologies to various mining projects and excellent at diversified training. Her current role sees her auditig IPS to ensure that they pose a balanced view - a view that is important given that the resources industry leans toward optimism. Ivy chose an interesting career path out of university. Working with ASIC! A great listen for all. It was a pleasure to have Ivy with us. Ivy’s Career Journey [02:25] Ivy had always been in Australia but her expertise allowed her to represent as a trainer for the first Australian-Chinese joint venture in Shanxi Province. She taught a group of older Chinese geologist how to use computer-aided mined planning. [03:26] Ivy was amazed on how previous generation geologist draws highly-detailed maps and for her to translate them into a modern computer system is challenging yet fulfilling. Life as Principal Consultant [05:02] Ivy’s work, in a nutshell, is a to be a “Bulldust Detector” where she tests the risk disclosure of mining companies and see if there’s a balance between upside and downside. The mining industry are optimist and loves their project, but this love is the reason why companies tend to forget all the good things. It is her job to take detailed technical reports aided with lawyers to help everyone understand where the risk are and how well they are disclosed. Directorship Learnings [07:38] Ivy learned that a non-executive director is vastly different from someone being on operations. As a non-executive director, you are hands-off on the operation—you cannot tell anyone what they should and interfere with what the CEO is doing. All you do is ask questions, challenge their assumptions, and make them think outside the box that would allow them to craft solutions for any situation. Diversity [09:02] The mining industry is headed to the right direction when it comes to diversity. Ivy emphasizes that it should just be about gender, but also age and ability. She thinks that the mining industry is not great at accommodating disabled people who can contribute many things. Inclusivity should encompass everyone, even those who are different from the norm. The mining industry is headed there, but there are still things to improve. Issues [11:35] Ivy felt that the mining industry have not defined any clear solutions when it comes to social license and environmental issues with climate change on the bigger picture. The industry should learn how to measure and quantify reports for these critical issues that people outside the industry can understand. [12:29] The mining industry should show to other industry that they are better. With this, investments flows in and offers on lower interest rates. If the industry will not pay attention into this, Ivy thinks that everyone will lose their social license to operate. Everyone should be conscious of it and ensure to avoid it from happening. Leaders of Tomorrow [13:07] Ivy hopes that the leaders of tomorrow should understand social license and not take it for granted. Social license covers everything – family, friends, colleagues – in other words, the society. The mining industry is not separated from the rest. Everyone is a family and that is important for future leaders to understand. Social license is not just a check box for a compliance list—it is something deeper and meaningful.   Learn more about Ivy Chen on: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ivy-chen-06764613/  

In this episode Simon speaks to Australian-Chinese conductor, Dane Lam. About Dane Lam: Dane Lam was appointed Associate Music Director and Resident Conductor at Opera Queensland in December 2020, a position created specifically for him and the first of its kind in the company's history. He is the Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of China's Xi'an Symphony Orchestra, and in recent months he has been leading the orchestral revival in Australia following the Covid-lockdown, conducting the first performances in front of live audiences for Opera Queensland, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Alongside Opera Queensland's new production of Le nozze di Figaro, his 2021 highlights include the inaugural production of the National Opera in Canberra, La clemenza di Tito, concerts with the Sydney and Queensland Symphony Orchestras, and a Martha Argerich and friends festival with the Xi'an Symphony Orchestra. Dane has appeared with Opera Australia, Scottish Opera, Opera Holland Park, the Canberra, Western Australia, Dunedin, Beijing, Suzhou, Kunming and Shandong Symphony Orchestras, Munich Radio Orchestra, Het Residentie Orkest, City of London Sinfonia, Manchester Camerata, Southbank Sinfonia, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Beethoven Orchester Bonn and the Verbier Festival Orchestra. Website: https://danelam.net/ Agent: http://www.rayfieldallied.com/artists/dane-lam/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/danealam/

Sean Aylmer speaks to Monika Tu, Founder and Director of Black Diamondz Property Concierge, about her business selling high-end property, mostly to Australian-Chinese clients. She also shares her forecast for the property market and the surprise response she's had to her latest $45-million listing.Find out more: https://fearandgreed.com.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chinese official Lijian Zhao’s tweeting an image depicting an Australian soldier holding a knife against a child’s throat and the subsequent angry exchanges is the latest incident in an exceptionally poor year for Australian-Chinese relations. Tensions deepened after Australia’s call for an inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus, and the Chinese have hit Australian exports, most recently with punitive tariffs on wine. Diplomacy is of the mega variety; Australian ministers can’t get their calls returned. Bates Gill is Professor of Asia-Pacific Security Studies at Macquarie University, and has published extensively on Chinese domestic and international affairs. His coming book will focus on the goals driving Chinese foreign policy under Xi Jinping. Gill predicts Chinese military capability, while limited to the areas closest to its shore, will be more assertive in the next five years. He says the list of 14 Chinese grievances, recently reported, gives an indication of what China thinks the ideal relationship with Australia would be. “It would mean keeping our heads down, not criticising the nature and actions of the regime in Beijing and just generally being more accommodating and friendly towards China’s steady rise and ambitions.” “That’s what they want out of Australia.” While it’s often said one Australian export China would find hard to hit – because it depends on the supply – is iron ore, Gill sounds a caution. “Something in the range of 60 or 70%, I believe, of Chinese iron ore imports come from our shores, but they are looking [for] – and there are – other sources out there.” “We would be naive to think that Beijing and its iron ore importers are not looking and … trying to figure out ways to become less dependent on what they see and understand to be a relationship which is not going in a positive direction

In today’s episode, we speak with Orion Lee, an Australian-Chinese actor, who works internationally. Orion joined us to speak about his unusual route from finance to acting, the work he’s doing to support representation of East Asian actors in the UK, and why he will always hold a special love for London.To find out more about Orion and his work, you can find him on Twitter @orion8lee and on Instagram @iamorionlee. To learn about the Constellation Creatives Bursary, check out the initiative here.Migreatives is produced by Woven Voices, and is created and hosted by Nadia Cavelle, Zachary Fall and Ben Weaver-Hincks. The show’s artwork is designed by Lucy Stapylton-Smith, and its music is composed by Guy Hughes.For more information about Woven Voices, find us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter @wovenvoices, and on our website at wovenvoices.org. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We discuss the history Australian-Chinese relations and China using this as a foundation for creeping influence into Australia, and the resulting escalation of tensions; including Chinese demands of Australia and recent blocks on numerous commodities. We discuss the evident decoupling and cover the economic impacts of the commodities blocks and decrease in Chinese tourism and students going forward. We conclude with the investment implications of Australia potentially losing its largest trade partnerPresentation slides: https://nucleuswealth.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/China-and-Australia-at-war.pdfIn today's investment webinar, Nucleus Wealth's Chief Strategist David Llewellyn Smith, Head of Investments Damien Klassen, and Head of Advice Tim Fuller delve into China and Australia being at warTimestamps:00:00 Introduction and agenda03:15 Background of escalating relations between Australia and China20:00 China's 14 demands of Australia for returning to a normal trade relationship26:50 Economic impacts of the commodities block30:30 Chinese Tourism and Students32:30 RCEP trade deal47:30 Outlook on pricing of asset markets (property, AUD, Interest rates)53:30 Outlook of gold and gold miners56:00 Investment outlook and what we're doing within our portfoliosTo listen in podcast form click here: http://bit.ly/NucleusPod Get an obligation-free portfolio recommendation to see how we would invest for you: https://portal.nucleuswealth.com/registerLearn more about the hosts: https://nucleuswealth.com/people Find us on social media: https://www.facebook.com/NucleusWealth/ https://twitter.com/NucleusWealth https://linkedin.com/company/nucleuswealth Nucleus Wealth is an Australian Investment & Superannuation fund that can help you reach your financial goals through transparent, low cost, ethically tailored portfolios. To find out more head to https://nucleuswealth.com. The information on this podcast contains general information and does not take into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. Past performance is not an indication of future performance. Damien Klassen and Tim Fuller are an authorised representative of Nucleus Wealth Management. Nucleus Wealth is a business name of Nucleus Wealth Management Pty Ltd (ABN 54 614 386 266 ) and is a Corporate Authorised Representative of Nucleus Advice Pty Ltd - AFSL 515796.#China #Australia #ausecon

What is going on with China and Australia? We've been so polite to each other for such a long time and for the past few months it looks like both countries have taken their gloves off.  Should we be worried?  There's no one more qualified to ask than our former PM Kevin Rudd. He was foreign minister, he lived in China for a while and he's fluent in Mandarin.  And today, he's talking with The Quicky about Australian-Chinese relations.  Subscribe to The Quicky at... https://mamamia.com.au/the-quicky/ Dodo Terms & Conditions: Visit dodo.com to switch today. NBN minimum cost $200. $5 discount off $85 NBN100 Plan for the first 12 months. Offer ends 31st of October 2020. Average sampled evening speed 82mbps, based on the ACCC Measuring Broadband Australia Report (May 2020) measured across the ACCC's sampled connections between 7pm-11 pm in February 2020. Speed confirmed when active. Available in certain areas only. Visit dodo.com for full terms & conditions. CREDITS  Host/Producer: Claire Murphy  Executive Producer: Melanie Tait Audio Producer: Jacob Round  Guests:  Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd CONTACT US Got a topic you'd like us to cover? Send us an email at thequicky@mamamia.com.au Looking for other podcasts to listen to?  You'll find all our Mamamia shows at https://mamamia.com.au/podcasts/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australian Chinese relations continue to plummet - العلاقات الديبلوماسية المضطربة بين أستراليا والصين أدت في هبوط سريع في ثقة المستثمرين الصينين، حيث تراجعت الاستثمارات الصينية بما يقرب من 50 بالمئة خلال عام

Australia officially in recession, Facebook threatens to pull news content from its platform in Australia, Liberal mps push for next compulsory super increase to be delayed, Aussie Professor who reckons he may have found a treatment for mild Covid-19 cases and Australian-Chinese journalist detained in Beijing. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Monday night news broke that Australian/Chinese journalist Cheng Lei had been arrested in Beijing and could be held for up to six months without charge. Also this week Chinese authorities suspended imports from one of our largest grain producers, and launched an investigation in to drought subsidies for Australian wine makers. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute has called for a broad coalition of countries to be formed to call out the CCP’s increased use of coercive diplomacy. In this episode, national editor Tory Maguire is joined by China correspondent Eyrk Bagshaw to discuss the state of the SinoAustralian relationship. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Monday night news broke that Australian/Chinese journalist Cheng Lei had been arrested in Beijing and could be held for up to six months without charge. Also this week Chinese authorities suspended imports from one of our largest grain producers, and launched an investigation in to drought subsidies for Australian wine makers. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute has called for a broad coalition of countries to be formed to call out the CCP’s increased use of coercive diplomacy. In this episode, national editor Tory Maguire is joined by China correspondent Eyrk Bagshaw to discuss the state of the SinoAustralian relationship. See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

Dr Gang (Kevin) Li' company Gas Capture Technologies Pty Ltd has scaled up his advanced gas processing technology from grams to tonnes, placing Australia as a global leader in the field. - 澳大利亚政府提供的Global Innovation Linkage Grant全球联合创新项目的资助让李刚博士研发的现金气体技术得以实现商业化，走向世界。

Dr Ting Chen said that he hopes to support Melburnians in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic through actions by upholding Australian values. - 陈挺先生告诉SBS普通话，作为澳洲华人，他希望通过实际行动来支持维州人民抗疫。

“Australia is a safe environment for international students and visitors from all over the world, including China”，Dr Ting CHEN，Chung Wah Association President, told SBS Mandarin. - 陈挺先生告诉SBS普通话节目，“澳大利亚是一个安全的国家，并且各级政府都非常旗帜鲜明地反对种族歧视，澳洲的反种族歧视沟通渠道畅通”。

Michael is joined by Peter Jennings, Executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, who writes that ‘China has shown its true colours to the world, and it will suffer consequences. Australian citizens won’t allow a return to just shutting up and taking the money.’ ‘Governments of all political stripes have gone to extraordinary lengths to look the other way whenever the Chinese Communist Party’s bad behaviour — in everything from human rights abuses to industrial-scale cyber-spying and intimidating Australian-Chinese citizens — risked damaging the economic pipeline’ Mr Jennings writes.

Economic impact of coronavirus, Liberal mp Gladys Liu on the work she is doing with the Australian Chinese community, US Primaries for Democrat Presidential nominee, US begins work on a peace deal with the Taliban and Labor tries to muscle in on regional Australia  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

BLOODY EPISODE 45 TRAILER PARK    Free Guy - Ryan Reynolds stars in this action blockbuster comedy about an average Joe inside a high intense action video game. Also known as an NPC (non playable character), this ‘Guy’ seemingly decides to make his own destiny and become the hero the game deserves! Coming to Australian theatres July 2!  ‘WonderWoman: 1984’ - Gal Gadot stars as the title character of the next Wonder Woman film!! Set some time in the past (they weren’t specific on which year it was), we see WW whipping bad guys, whipping bullets, throwing down her fists and throwing up the ‘X’! Amazing trailer and the theme of it being sometime in the 80’s (again, they weren’t specific), brings us disco music, parachute pants and lots of colour! Oh and amazing ‘art’. Great support cast and coming June 2020!  ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ - Well would you look at that! Paul Rudd and Finn Wolfhard are teaming up with their incredible comedic timing to fix the mess that was ‘Ghostbusters 2016’. A young family moves to an old decrepit farmhouse that their ‘grandad’ left them because they be broke! But what do you know, it’s full of Ghostbuster replicas! Now they’ve unleashed hidden ghosts and must save their tiny town from its grasp! Coming July 2020!  ‘Mulan’ - A young woman must protect her father from conscription into the army because she was born with female genitalia! “CURSE YOU VAGINA” she screams as her daddy is forced to fight. With her hair hidden up under a warriors helmet, she does it like a dude as she must fight to protect her emperor and family! With a little help from a lady who doubles as a bird! Win win! Coming March 2020.  ‘No Time To Die’ - Daniel Craig risks rope burn and retirement in this, the 25th ‘bond’ film! In an action packed trailer full of explosions, gun fights, motorbike chases, clever one line jokes and chucking ‘fully sick’ doughnuts in the parking lot, we see old man Bond coming up against his greatest villain yet: his feeble knees! WHO WILL PREVAIL?! Stacked cast, coming April 2020. ‘The Assistant’ - Showing how to put the ‘Ass’ in ‘Assistant’ comes this high octane thriller about the day in the life of a high executive assistant and everything she goes through for her masoginistic boss and corrupt asshole work mates. She is tasked with such ridiculous tasks and the mistreatment of other women as she is expected to keep her mouth shut say all the right things. Coming 31st of January in the U.S. and everywhere in February.    YASS OR PASS     ‘The Whistleblower’ - In this joint Australian/Chinese production, our story follows an immigrant working for a mining company in Australia who discovers that some new technology being used by the company may pose a health risk. UH OH!  ‘The Queen’s Corgi’ - In this Family animation we follow the Queen’s pet Corgi as he gets lost from Buckingham Palace! Oh no! But before the adventure to find his way home, he ends up at a dog fight club! Holy shit, has potential to be brutal?! Here’s hoping!  ‘Playmobil: The Movie’ - What’s that? You wanted a knock off ‘Lego Movie’ from that cheaper version of Lego that parents get their kids when they can’t afford ridiculously expensive real LEGO?! Well look no further, The Playmobil movie has you covered! Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Jim Gaffigan, Meghan Trainor and Adam Lambert.  ‘Playing with Fire’ - In a city where corruption reigns supreme, one lawyer trying to set his innocent client free must fight against the police chief in the mobsters pocket and a district attorney who is also a former lover with a vendetta against him. Backed into a corner, he must do what he can to save his client but also, his life?! One things for sure, you have to be careful when you, Play. With. Fire!! Lol jks, it’s a family comedy starring John Cena, Keegan-Michael Key and John Leguizamo about a fire station having to babysit some kids.  ‘Black Christmas’ - Here come the ‘holiday’ flicks!! In this remake of the 1974 classic (and the terribly basic remake from 2006) we follow a group of Sorority Sisters who are being terrorised by a Christmas Killer! Will they survive or will they get their stocking stuffed?! Starring Imogen Poots, Lily Donoghue, Brittany O’Grady and Cary Elwes.    ----more---- @2c3pod Aussie Pop Culture Podcast ~ 2 Episodes every Wednesday and Friday + YOUTUBE bonus content. PodbeanSpotifyApple Podcasts Youtube Check out our social accounts to keep in contactTwitterFacebookInstagram Twitchwww.twitch.tv/mitchell_tctpwww.twitch.tv/dylan_tctp

Disclaimer: Please note that I am not claiming to speak on behalf of all other Australian Chinese. In this bonus story time episode of ophrequencies, I discuss how the expectations and standards our family and cultures place on us at an early age, can sometimes significantly impact the pathway we choose to follow; often times, not what we really want. I also share my experience and my story growing up, with the knowing belief that many others out there will be able to resonate with this feeling of being a foreigner in both the country you have spent most of your life in and the country your parents are from. I hope this episode was interesting and insightful to you! I'd love to continue this conversation with you, feel free to come holla' at me on instagram! See you there! Instagram: @ophieho

Miles is a very interesting man. American born, Lived in China for 10 years, dropped out of school at 14. Learnt how to code in 3 months (and one month after started teaching code)also dabbled in Busking in China! Speaks fluent Mandarin. 22 Yrs Old. We talked about Chinese culture and the Australian-Chinese subculture and how to market to them for Breakfast Shirts and musically. Very interesting chat. Contact Miles: milesthedisch@gmail.com Buy a Breakfast Shirt: www.breakfastshirts.com

Carlito has found the best slacks in the United States at Target, he just need a few more inches for his bunghole. Planting sod in the basement for the cat to enjoy. Australian Chinese food is really boring and the restauraunt workers talk funny. Generic Viagra for sale from dirty India. Carlito freaks a lady […]

Kylie Kwong is the undisputed queen of modern Australian Chinese cooking and has changed our perception of native ingredients. She is a household name with her much-loved restaurant Billy Kwong in Sydney's Potts Point, and a regular on our TV screens- from Masterchef to her own shows exploring China and Australian producers. But on our journey to her favourite weekend hang, we discovered another side to this inspiring chef: her focused and spiritual approach towards life and cooking, how she copes with the daily stresses of being a chef, why she is a one-restaurant woman and what her light bulb moment was a few years ago. Then we put Hollywood's “it chef” Louis Tikaram under the grill. The Mullumbimby boy earned his stripes at top Aussie restaurants Tetsuya's and Longrain before being hand-picked to open EP and LP in Los Angeles, and turning it into one of the city's hottest restaurants and rooftops. He spills the Hollywood food goss from where to get the best taco to being enlightened by vegan coffee.

Wow! It’s been a long time since the last post, but we have been going strong and there is a lot to catch up on! Casey and I have enjoyed our time in both China and Tibet and have ventured forth into the unknown of Mongolia! I have a lot of information to cover, so I’m taking a slightly different tack and writing about location rather then day-by-day. Welcome back and enjoy! To listen to our more then overdue podcast click here!Vientiane & Luang Prabang, Laos - Mar 28th to Apr 3rd After enduring Vientiane in all is ‘grandeur’ (or incredible lack there of!), we decided to continue on to Luang Prabang, the popular pinnacle of Lao tourism. Luang Prabang was a truly beautiful town, isolated from the majority of westernizations. The town was very laidback, making it easy to lose track of days. With the sites of the town consisting of a mighty 32 wats, the Pak Ou Buddha caves on the Mekong and the magnificently formed Kuang Si waterfall, it was easy to see why Luang Prabang was a highlight for anyone venturing into Laos. We joined a tour to see both the Buddha caves, which were naturally occurring caves consisting of Buddhas of all shapes and denominations, and the waterfall. The waterfall and associated pools were a truly majestic sight. Deposits of calcium had created a tiered waterway while simultaneously making the water an intricately deep turquoise. Casey enthusiastically photographed the landscape before we both relished the opportunity to swim in the beautifully temperate water. Feeling that we were finally ready to farewell South East Asia, we organised a bus to Kunming in the Yunnan province, China, but not before I had the displeasure of joining Casey in the age bracket of the mid-twenties.Kunming, China - Apr 4th to Apr 9thAfter successfully entering China with near to no issues we reached our first point of call, Kunming. Kunming was our first real reintroduction to the western world in two months! Tempted by Maccas, KFC and a Chinese fast food chain, Dickos, we needed to employ self-control to avoid blowing our budget and maintaining our semi-authentic cultural experience. This was also where we fruitlessly tried to satisfy our hunger for fried dumplings, which in hindsight aren’t as common in china as Australian Chinese restaurants depict. An hour and a half from Kunming is a popular local tourist attraction that Casey was desperate to see, The Stone Forest. As the name suggests, the attraction was in fact an impressive forest of stone. Unfortunately, the forest was partially ruined by the sheer number of tourists and the attempt to convert the natural beauty of the site into an artificial amusement park, a more then common occurrence around China. The amount the Chinese government was involved in controlling the population was slowly becoming evident as we discovered we were blocked from accessing Facebook and our blog, and the number of police had multiplied since our time in parts of South East Asia where we didn’t even know what a policeman looked like. We then continued on to Guilin, only a torturous 24-hour seated train ride away. Guilin, China - Apr 10th & Apr 11th Guilin was a quaint town that we were using as a gateway to the awe-inspiring town, Yangshuo. We still enjoyed Guilin; where you can find a plethora of differing and exotic Chinese foods including self-selected skewers fried in a chilli sauce that really stimulates the taste buds!Yangshou, China - Apr 12th to Apr 16thYangshou is the town that inspired the floating mountains in the blockbuster movie Avatar. It was incredible to see landmasses rising from the flat surrounding terrain in such close proximity to buildings as if the locals were oblivious to this formidable backdrop. The main tourist street, West St, was saturated by Chinese tourists (that included all nightclubs), which was refreshing, having recently escaped the tourist demographic of South East Asia. After seeing bike rental businesses all around town, Casey and I decided that would be the best way to see the incredible landscape. We, of course, needed to do this in style so we hired a tandem bicycle. We inevitably were a spectacle, as people did not see two large bearded westerners riding a tandem bike regularly. Yangshou was a truly magical location and it was easy to see why this was such an iconic site.Shanghai, China - Apr 17th to Apr 21stAfter another grueling 24-hour seated train ride we arrived in westernized Shanghai. Now, Shanghai is an amazing city and is definitely one of my favourite cities we’ve visited thus far. Casey having visited China twice before was able to act as my tour guide around some of the ‘cultural’ sites such as the main shopping street, East-Nanjing rd, and a local electronics market where sales people were ruthless for a sale. Not only were we targets for people trying to lure us to teahouses, but Casey is convinced he was offered ‘services’ by a guy in the male toilets. It was also in Shanghai we decided to obtain visas for Mongolia, which ended up being incredibly easy and falsely foreshadowed what we would expect from our next country, but more about that later. The highlight of Shanghai for us, and inevitably the people that have to look at us, was the shaving of our beards. I bravely opted for full facial hair removal where as Casey decided to only trim his facial monstrosity. As we farewelled our homeless look and welcomed back a small amount of class, we prepared for the jewel of our Chinese adventure, a tour in Tibet.Lhasa, Tibet - Apr 22nd to May 2ndOur visit to Tibet had been an impromptu decision whilst we were in Luang Prabang, and even though we had to join an intensively organised tour to see this mysteriously isolated area, the organisation of permits and payments still added complication to our very fragile plan. Whilst in Shanghai everything had finally come together (except monetary issues with the company that continued into our first few days in Lhasa, involving calls from our travel agent ‘Debbie’ whilst we were inside sacred Buddhist monasteries...). We had organised to catch two 48 hour trains to both arrive in and depart from Lhasa after our eight day tour of Lhasa and the Mount Everest Base Camp (EBC).We boarded the train in Shanghai and both got comfortable in our hard sleepers on the highest level in our cabin of six beds. This was an interesting train ride for numerous reasons, not only did the train reach an elevation of 5000m while we ogled the beauty of the Tibetan Plateau, but we also had to adjust to having about 50cm between our beds and the ceiling of the cabin. Elated to have arrived in Lhasa, we were welcomed by the sight of extremely heightened security. We were collected by a guide holding a sheet of paper garnishing our names and taken to our three star hotel, which was possibly the nicest we had stayed in thus far. Lhasa was exquisite! As we drove through the streets for the first time, we were met by a strange mixture of present day domineering China fused with the repressed, yet courageously prevalent, Tibetan culture, all on a formidable backdrop of snow capped peaks. Every Tibetan person we met was so merry and friendly, solidifying our opinion of the Tibetan people as the kindest and warmest we have encountered thus far.The following morning (whilst I was battling with a slight level of altitude sickness) our freshly formed tour group visited the oldest Buddhist temple in Lhasa, the Jokhang temple, and the surrounding Barkhor st, a remnant of old Lhasa. This was followed by a visit to the Potala Palace, the rightful residence of the exiled 14th Dalai Llama. The Potala Palace was magnificent, a structure that commanded respect by its sheer position above the town and the deep religious significance the palace held to each and every Tibetan. The intricacies of the palace were a marvel in themselves as we caught a glimpse of the spiritual ideologies that form the cornerstone of Tibetan culture. Throughout the following days we saw a multitude of monasteries such as the Drepung monastery, the Sera Monastery and the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery. All the monasteries we visited were unique in so many ways, differentiated primarily by the founding denomination of Tibetan Buddhism or the particular focus of worship. Unfortunately, due to the number of monasteries we visited, it became increasingly difficult to distinguish them from each other, however, this did not subtract from their individual majesty.  We did have the privilege of seeing monks debating in a courtyard, which they use as a method of revising their teachings. This was a very impressive sight as we were able to see monks in their natural environment.Travelling from Lhasa to EBC was incredibly impressive as we skirted the beautifully vibrant Yamtso Tso Lake and scaled vastly steep mountain ranges whilst enduring frequent police checkpoints and permit checks. After staying a night in the very authentic Tibetan Rongpuk Monastery, which is the first EBC, we were taken to the second and third Tibetan EBC. Mount Everest was a spectacular sight! Casey and I were truly mesmerized by the beauty of the peak and the highest point on Earth, a sight that makes you ponder the magnificence of nature. We had reached the pinnacle of our tour, so we then began the decent back to Lhasa and inevitably our return to reality outside of Tibet. We boarded another 48-hour train, this time to Beijing, continuing to gestate the experiences we had gained and the memories we will forever cherish. I cannot mention our time in Tibet without mentioning our German friends Thomas and Hanna. It was more then a pleasure to meet them both and a definite highlight of the tour and our travels thus far.Beijing, China - May 3rdto May 8thArriving into Beijing demonstrated that our time in China was drawing to an end before we departed to Mongolia. We were determined to be proactive and visit the Kazakhstani embassy to obtain visas for our distant arrival; we, unfortunately, were met by about fifty well-prepared Chinese nationals, which ruined even the slightest chance of obtaining even the forms required. Determined to make sure this day of enthusiasm was not in vain, we continued to the train station to buy tickets to the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaatar. We were again met with disappointment as we were told that they could not sell international train tickets at the train station and we would have to visit the “International Hotel”. After visiting said hotel and refusing to pay the $200AUD for a ticket, we determined that we could reach the border town by train and, at the insistence of our hostel manager, would still be able to leave the country before our visa expired, which is profoundly frowned upon by Chinese customs officials. We booked a tour to see the Great Wall of China, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. As amazing as the Great Wall really is, the highlight of the day was getting to toboggan down after walking the steep incline of the wall. The construction of the Great Wall is truly impressive and it’s hard to believe that it stretched as far as 6000km. As Casey had already seen the Forbidden City, I ventured to the well-known sight solo before meeting Casey at the Chinese national museum. The Forbidden City was amazing and is definitely a testament to the Chinese dynasties of the past. However, I must admit that the number of security personnel and cameras around the Forbidden City and Tiananman Square was a true spectacle in itself and took away from the whole experience. Casey and I were able to use our time in Beijing to not only decide on our plans for the next few months, but also book some flights to ensure our continued world journey.We were both ready to say our goodbyes to China and boarded the train to the tiny border town, Erlian, the only point where tourists can cross from China to Mongolia.Zamin Uud, Mongolia - May 9th to May 11thWaking up in Erlian still in possession of all our belongings was a good start to the day that, unbeknown to us both, was only going to get longer. We fortunately met a nice Dutch couple that we decided to accompany across the border. Now, the border between China and Mongolia can only be crossed by car, and only certain cars are allowed to cross. So after an hours walk to the first border checkpoint we had to pay for a jeep. After paying a guy and getting into his vehicle we waited by the side of the road waiting for him to drive before another vehicle pulled up that we were ushered into. This new vehicle crossed the first checkpoint, but the driver was then abused by a solider and made to turn back. We, again, waited at the first checkpoint until we saw our first driver exiting from the second checkpoint guard station. We then successfully managed to cross the second checkpoint and were dropped at Chinese immigration and the vehicle entered the line so we would be met on the opposing side to continue our journey. We crossed immigration, relieved to know our visas were still current (with only four hours remaining), and continued to wait for our driver. After waiting 45 minutes we came to the upsetting conclusion that we had been left at the first immigration stop and would need to find another ride to continue. This was quite an issue as most cars had people hanging out the sides at any rate and luggage on the roofs and bonnets. Luckily, a jeep was just about to leave the third checkpoint and saw an opportunity to make some money and welcomed us in, there were now nine people crammed into the jeep. With Casey sitting on my lap and both our packs unsecured on the bonnet, we arrived at Mongolian immigration before repeating the process and arriving in our first Mongolian town, Zamin Uud. When arriving in the barren wasteland that was Zamin Uud, we headed straight to the train station to secure train tickets to Ulaanbaatar that night. We discovered that there is no order in the train station, after waiting two and a half hours in one line, Casey had moved, yet it was possibly a metre in the wrong direction whilst being sandwiched between two Mongolian women. I, joined by my Dutch friend, was lucky enough to reach the front of the line where after waiting for two hours was told that the tickets were sold out and that we were unable to buy tickets for the following day until morning. Leaving the train station incredibly frustrated we eventually found an incredibly overpriced hotel that had a shower but no water. We then ventured to a restaurant and managed to consume a very oily meal that was supposed to resemble a steak.The following morning we again went to the train station to try and secure tickets for that night. There were four police officers present that had managed to form three almost orderly lines in front of the three ticketing booths and were stopping people from joining at any point. Casey and I, each with one of our Dutch friends, joined two separate lines. The police presence was great until they decided to leave when I was still ten people away from the window. This caused an abrupt amount of both pushing and general chaos. Luckily, the police returned and we were able to buy four tickets to the capital. Whilst on the topic of chaos, I have almost been hit by cars twice since our arrival in Mongolia. My theory is that no one needs to drive properly because the police are busy maintaining order in the train station… We easily jumped on the train and arrived in Ulaanbaatar the following day, but I’ll leave that for the next blog. Our opinion of Mongolia so far is not great, but we are hoping that the border town is not a true reflection on the remaining country. We have found this to generally be the case in other countries and still have high hopes for the remainder of Mongolia. That brings us to now. There was a lot of time to cover and I’ve skimmed over some truly amazing experiences and locations, but it’s a pretty good overview of what we’ve been up to. Our time in China and Tibet was amazing, the people and the landscapes are truly incredible, and I feel lucky to have been able to see so much of it in such a small amount of time.To keep you all in the loop, Casey and I have booked a few flights for the next few months for: Astana, Kazakhstan to Tbilisi, Georgia; Casablanca, Morocco to Amman, Jordan and Cairo, Egypt to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Also, Casey has enrolled to do a two week course in intercultural experience in Germany and I have enrolled in a two month long intensive French course in Lyon, France. So we definitely have some pretty exciting things to look forward to in the coming months. As always our love goes to our friends and families and we hope everyone is well and enjoying their own adventures. We are now back on the radar and have unrestricted access to Facebook and the blog, so we’ll make sure we don’t leave it too long.Keep posted.