September 24, 2010
Apparently, it's not just our Chinese family name that gets used around town. There's a whole set of "Tony" branded shops in Beijing.

What's more, there's a line of "Chor" branded clothes in Beijing and Shenzhen too.

I am clearly among my people here...
(Thanks to my friend Phil for the second photo.
September 20, 2010
Apparently last Friday, Beijing set a dubious new record for the greatest number of congested streets -- 140, even more than the 90 congested streets during a heavy snow last year.
I don't know about the number, but my commute was 1.5 hours; usually I get home in 45-60 minutes. My driver was super aggressive, dashing into holes, driving on the shoulder, taking back streets, etc. so it could have been worse. But at one point, even he got out of the car to look around and see what was going on since we were stopped.
Worse, that aside from a little rain and maybe because we're coming up on a holiday, there was no obvious reason for such a colossal slowdown.
However, the scariest part is that I imagine this will only get worse as more people buy cars.

More on ChinaSmack (I lifted this photo from them too...)