Asst Professor urban studies SMU SG. MIT DUSP, @HarvardGSD; lived in PEK, ICN, XIY, SIN, BOS, BKK. Bad at social media!
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How is Xi remaking China's "urban ideology"? Find out in this new article on Xiong'an 雄安新区 for Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy, and Society
doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsaf00…
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It was back in 2017 after China passed cybersecurity law (2016) that Apple had to set up a server in Guizhou to store its Chinese user data, on servers owned by SOE China Telecom. Just saying, but…. Why is the reverse is not an option for TikTok in US ?
theverge.com/2018/7/18/17587…
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A Chinese architect I spoke to today described the current artistic climate in China in this way: “China is undergoing “Sovietization” 苏联化. Artists don’t touch social issues at all. They limit themselves to personal spirituality or other inward looking themes.”
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China is undergoing a reading and bookstore renaissance that stands out as a puzzling exception to both its apparent inward turn and hyper digitalization. There are many more books available— both Chinese & translations. Some recent bookstores in Beijing and Guangzhou:
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Republicans: "we don't believe in masks, we don't believe in vaccines, nor do we really believe in covid at all..but everything we do makes covid last just a bit longer." Good job guys!
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The more things change…
Japan then: “with so much at stake, the U.S. has suddenly awakened to the fact that it is in an economic and technological war” (Warshofksy, 1989) China today…
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First day back in Beijing, got a SIM card, re-connected to my old bank account; got verified to use Alipay with foreign cards, Wechat pay, and a host of other apps. Rented a hutong apt and ordered a bunch of stuff from JD that was delivered in a couple hours. All in a days work.
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Xiong’an architectural details: most buildings have metallic or stone cladding to reduce amount of surface glass; in 2017 Xiong’an committee called for “3 no builds-no skyscrapers, Cement forests glass curtain walls”. I’m told partly responding to Xi’s own tastes.
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Well put, Ukraine has revealed a lot about the ineffectual Western left in the foreign policy realm. It’s easy to embrace theories when your life isn’t on the line. Ukraine should be a wake up call for all of us.
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Hasn’t the PAP generally tried to maintain a pro-family, pro-natalist image, such as using HDB to promote family and child rearing? They sort of lose any moral high ground to legislate people’s private lives anymore if they give up this pretense, however constructed it may be
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not sure when "California has a housing shortage" turned into "let's turn San Luis Obispo into metropolis. Or, bulldoze Big Sur, one of the natural jewels of the state.
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One of the ten classic scenes of West Lake: “three pools mirroring the moon” 三潭印月. New: “Surveillance cameras mirroring everything you do”
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I’m now Dr Stokols, passed the dissertation defense. Thanks to my committee and everyone who has supported me along the way! 🙏
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the countries on Russia's border are the ones clamoring to join NATO because they never trusted Russia. And this just shows they were right not too.
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Add to this thread- when I was in Beijing in June I tried to book a visit to forbidden city on weixin as many tourist sites you have to book online now. It was booked every day and I could not figure out how to book it. You used to just show up but a ticket and walk in.
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An update on Xiong’an from my recent visit; the city is a massive construction site, work has begun on the 启动区 Qidong District which is the CBD of the new city, with offices and research parks of SOEs (中化, 华能, 星网）and big 3 telecoms underway,
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Some hints of China opening ever so slightly to international travel..
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
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In this piece on Xiongan, I explore how the city represent's Xi's vision for domestic innovation centered on SOEs @BeijingPalmer #China #urban
foreignpolicy.com/2023/01/22…
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Visited Beijing high level autonomous driving demonstration zone in Yizhuang set up by BJ gov in partnership with Baidu to test AVs in a delimited zone; each intersection is equipped with sensors and feeding into an integrated system. China is unique in this path to AV…
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Voted today for @MITGradUnion ! Hopefully this will lay the groundwork for better conditions in the future so students don’t have to pay 50%+ of their stipends on rent, for example.
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Funny @Noahpinion has just pronounced South Asia/SE Asia are the next "frontier of globalization" , as if these regions haven't already been plugged into the world economy for the past several decades noahpinion.blog/p/the-age-of…
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Turned in my dissertation “Building Digital Cities and Digital Nations” 256 pages and 88k words. After 23rd grade finally done with school !!💯
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Got a chance to ride the new Lao-China Railway (LCR) from Vientiane to Luang Prabang. Delayed 2 hours, I think related to the heavy rain, but generally a comfortable journey. And beautiful countryside.
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Two buildings on Tsinghua campus, two very different vibes: Schwarzman College funded by American banker and designed by Robert Stern (of W Bush fame)- symbol of bygone era of globalism; up the road the 自强科技楼 self strengthening sci-tech bldg giving Nouveaux Soviet vibes
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My dissertation explores how urban digital infrastructure has become a key object of state developmental policy, also focuses on a few "national showcases" in which new technologies are integrated with the environment and imaginaries of national identity in SG, TH, and China
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Inner Mongolia has become a hub for China’s cloud computing industry. Visited Hohhot’s “China Cloud Valley” 云谷 where China telecom and China Mobile both have huge data centers. The cool and dry climate helps to reduce energy usage.
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You can’t look at either China or the US as pursuing protectionism independently. It’s a mutual process; Trumps tariffs and Biden’s export controls undoubtedly hastened the urgency of China’s self-sufficiency push
I’ll say it again: the country most openly turning its back on globalization is China. Academics and commentators who say it’s the West simply haven’t been paying attention.
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meanwhile in Bangkok: marijuana stores on every block, masks still worn by most outside but not the law anymore so totally optional, and they rolled out their own elite visa programs recently
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Not welcome news for democracy in Thailand—conservative establishment is shameless, rejecting a party elected by 14 million voters on a technicality. Shows utter contempt for Thai voters, makes a mockery of elections. #whatishappeninginthailand
BREAKING! Constitutional Court on 19 July will start process to disqualify popularly elected PM candidate @Pita_MFP. Not only blocking him from taking office, conservative forces want to erase Pita and his reformist @MFPThailand from #Thailand’s political landscape. #เลือกนายก #นายกคนที่30 #พิธา #ประชุมสภา #ส่องทวิตยามเช้า @HRW
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One of the things being back in China reminded me is just how much variation and latitude there still is in implementation of actual policy. News about Xi's China tends to give the impression of a perfectly-oiled bureaucracy..
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A thread on corruption, environment, feng shui in Xi’s China: this now demolished villa 西安院子 (only the gate left) was one of many illegal villas at foot of Qinling mountains at the center of a scandal that brought down top leaders in Xi‘an/Shaanxi province : 赵正永 + 魏民洲
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The first section of Xiong’an to be completed is Rongdong 蓉东 (north of main cbd) with housing for eventual 170,000 mostly 安置房 relocation housing for villagers. Yuerong Park runs through the area which was looking nice on a clear day
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In this @SinicaPodcast hosted by @KaiserKuo I share what Xiong’an New Area suggests about Xi’s vision for China’s urban future.
thechinaproject.com/2023/05/…
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Oh the irony of “market urbanists” calling for the razing of entire neighborhoods by fiat. The Soviet Union is calling they want their planning ideas back.
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GOP blocked Constitutional right of sitting President to appt justice. And you dare to talk about upholding Constitution?
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Your description of the southbound policy is misleading, as it’s primarily about Taiwan boosting connections with SE and S Asia, not Japan and the U.S. csis.org/programs/china-powe…
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#Beijing subways I thought I would add to this with some of my favorite Beijing subway station art. Many stations are at former gates of the city (demolished at urging of Mao) This is Guangqumen 广渠门, an east-facing gate in the southern outer city of Beijing. Line 7.
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New article @economyandspace (with Justin Kollar) on how countries caught in between China and U.S. navigate through their own "extended infrastructure power"--using cases of Taiwan and Thailand.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.…
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Takes the cake for best slogan sign I’ve ever seen in China; “each ethnicity is like a pomegranate: must closely embrace each other”. They actually went to the trouble of adding a pomegranate. in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia.
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there’s quite a large group of Chinese who lived in and understand the U.S. but they’re probably outside the official policy apparatus of the state. Same for the American side, but this group will not be replenished if levels of Americans studying in China remains at 300.
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My article “the insurgent smart city” is published in @JUAurban in which I analyze the the 2019–2020 Hong Kong Anti-ELAB protests, as an alternative, “insurgent smart city.”
doi.org/10.1080/07352166.202…
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China's cities are unlike any other in the world--the lack of smallholder property rights is the prime reason why Chinese cities are so devoid of human-scale features, and often so unlivable
nytimes.com/2018/03/10/world…
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Enjoyed being on @SinicaPodcast to talk about Xiong’an!
This week on the @SinicaPodcast: Andrew @astoks Stokols of MIT talks about Xiong'an, the futuristic green city that, in Andrew's telling, is the embodiment of Xi Jinping's ideology. Meanwhile, James C Scott gnashes his teeth. thechinaproject.com/podcast/…
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In China, the focus on building smart cities or 智慧城市 is in full swing, following many policies and slogans such as new-type infrastructure 新基建 (2018) Building a Digital China 数字中国 (2023)..and now "new production factors 新生产要素 of which data is a key new "factor"
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There's a reason why 9/10 people in China I spoke with like Trump. Some like his brash personality, think he's a businessman (they don't realize he's just a 2nd gen rich 富二代. some also remember he was called 建国 "building the nation". And that's building China, not U.S.
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Urban exhibitions are common in Chinese cities. In Xiong'an, the entire city has become a showroom. But a showroom for what and for whom?
Whereas city exhibits display urban progress to public, Xiong'an's are internally focused: party cadres, SOE employees, govt officials.
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Tongzhou, developed as new urban Ctr and relocation of BJ municipal offices . Along with Xiong’an, part of 京津冀 regional dev plan. Only 30 min subway to Chaoyangmen so this area is filling up fast as a commuter suburb. Some call it “Tongzhoufornia” for its relaxed vibe 🤔
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How have increasing state surveillance, new digital tools (i.e. Telegram), led to a new form of urban protest that differs from the early 2010 Occupy movements? Read my article on the #HongKong Anti-Elab protests:
tandfonline.com/eprint/AAE2M…
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The digitalization of everyday life has gone a bit too far. The analog alternative (buying a ticket at the gate) worked just fine in the past. And at the least there should be this option in addition to online booking.
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Those who think there is no fake news in China because of censorship, think again. Today I was told by a cab driver that AIDS was spread by the U.S. and U.K, just like opium in the 19th century. Just another day in China.😅
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Arrival in Beijing Daxing went without hiccups, immigration was fast and ordinary. The new airport is spacious and decorated with political slogans of Xi’s “new era” but also the usual Starbucks, cute panda nap pods.
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MFCFA: Making the forbidden city forbidden again: Securing an entrance ticket to Beijing’s 故宫 is becoming almost impossible these days, making the place again live up to its name.
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ya, I think this was the idea behind TikTok's proposal for "Project Texas" usds.tiktok.com/usds-about/, Oracle would have hosted the data--but not sure why this was not considered secure enough--would TikTok/Bytedance employees have still had backdoor access to this data?
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In @JUAurban I conceptualize the "insurgent smart city" as a "grassroots, autonomously organized assemblage of digital tools deployed by citizens to coordinate and organize information, events, and services in pursuit of contentious political goals"
tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.…
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Books available in Xiong’an: JD Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy next to a 2004 anthropology of growing up as single child in China. #Vance
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There is also guidance on place names or 地名. On previous occasions Xi has specifically criticized “Western-style” place names in housing developments (ie. Orange County, Vancouver, etc). You’ll find mostly historic or nature references. And also “rich and powerful” 富强园
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Sure. But more generally I think it’s flawed to think the solutions to California housing crisis run through upzoning central coast cities. Being YIMBY shouldn’t mean development everywhere at all costs
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Excited to attend my first in person conference post Covid and present on “The insurgent smart city: how the Hong Kong protest created an alternative imaginary of the smart city” #beyondsmartcities
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soft power problem...Korean and Japanese soft power push has been quite sustained for many years. If studying just for economic benefits, people will lose interest quickly.
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the market urbanists' idea of density is that you also have to throw out all concern for aesthetics, culture, basically anything else whatsoever--as long as its high-rise and offers housing, it's beyond criticism.
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This is the massive new Baiyun high speed rail station 白云站 in Guangzhou; it’s probably one of the clearest examples of integrating commercial TOD development into the station infrastructure itself. Still mostly empty and not sure about the success of devpt just yet…
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This is housing and school complex in the Qidong Area, which driver claims will be more expensive and nicer than relocation housing and only provided to those with employment in the city.
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From the people I spoke with across SE Asia during my research, I’ve only heard theoretical scenarios about countries having to choose. So far it’s mostly been a boon for the region, drawing FDI on both ends from Chinese and MNCs relocating out of China.
Most countries have no desire to choose between China and America. But it is becoming clear that they might have to. The contest between the two powers is going global econ.st/4a2EqC8 👇
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Letter from scientist/polymath Qian Xuesen in 1994 sharing why he thought Beijing should build “ a city-town system” to preserve Beijing’s historic core and relocate new finance ctr in a suburban location instead of west 2nd ring 金融街.
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Xiong’an is talked about as 3rd “nationally significant” new area after Shenzhen, Pudong. But mode of devpt is very different. Shenzhen started as experiment. Villages largely left intact and they grew with the city. XA is to be built according to the blueprint. 一张蓝图到底
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From what I’ve seen Foreign Policy has not been a major issue of the Thai election campaign. Any new Thai government will maintain decent relationship with China. This is pure fake news.
🇺🇸🇹🇭 US-backed opposition sweeps Thai elections
Overtly anti-China, anti-Russian pro-Western opposition sweep Thai elections.
Move Forward Party linked to IS-backed billionaire Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit who pledged to roll back cooperation with China came in first...
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Thanks @dusp for featuring my recent @urbgeog article on surveillance, social media and urban space during the #HongKong protests! dusp.mit.edu/news/assessing-…
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I'll be moderating this panel on China's urban development as part of @Columbia 2024 China Forum; look forward to seeing some of you there!
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There are several structural/institutional reasons why China has relied so much on real estate: cities sold land as key source of fiscal revenue, lack of alternative investments/wealth building for households, political significance of large SOEs in construction sectors.
After the global financial crisis, China become a construction dependent economy.
Great Rogoff and Yang chart highlighted by @MESandbu today
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So far (which in no way can predict the future), countries caught in the middle in ASEAN seem only to have benefited from US-China competition; they’re getting FDI from factories relocating both from China (to avoid tariffs) and from western MNCs (to find alternatives to China)
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It’s true the state of cities like SF is appalling. But are recent tech worker emigres advocating for any solutions like more affordable housing or investment in mental health services? Or do they just complain for the sake of it ?
Much of San Francisco downtown looks like the city just gave up on itself. Drug addicts openly doing fentanyl and passed out everywhere, mentally ill screaming, homeless sprawled out everywhere, dilapidated empty storefronts and trash everywhere.
I've been here for 6 months and am still not used to this. It's absolutely appalling, and all government leaders responsible for this should be ashamed and fired. If no government leader can solve this, then the system itself is broken, and we need to hit the reset button and start over.
The current situation of San Francisco's downtown is completely unacceptable, and we need to hold ourselves to a higher standard than this abomination.
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yes but that memory has been de-emphasized or re-emphasized by China depending on the needs of the moment; de-emphasized in the early years of reform when China needed Japan' FDI, and re-emphasized much more in recent years to ratchet up nationalism
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Here I explore the city’s urban design and how it reflects an emerging ideology of governance under Xi Jinping’s China
aspacebetween.substack.com/p…
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This Fall I’m helping coordinate @MITdusp “Current Topics in City Design and Development” lecture series. Join if you’re in the Cambridge or greater Boston area!
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Adjacent to the park is the 商务服务中心 Commercial Service Center (housing hotel where I stayed, offices for major banks, convention Ctr),and a large plaza with a sunken pond.
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I spoke with @CNN for their story on how recent flooding in Hebei raises questions about the decision to build Xiong’an on the Baiyangdian wetlands.
cnn.com/2023/08/17/china/chi…
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No offense to anyone who does this kind of work, but the sheer fetish in urban planning for using data or AI or (insert new trendy method) to show us some pattern in cities we already knew existed, is just mindblowing how the entire field has become captured by this research
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In this podcast I discuss ideology and urbanism in Xi’s China, including a new 4-branch project called 國家版本馆 and how it reflects the ongoing project of integrating Marxism and Confucianism. Referred to as a “seed gene bank” of Chinese civilization; pic;Hangzhou, BJ branch
In this episode of Barbarians at the Gate, @david__moser and I chat with Andrew Stokols @astoks, who is researching varieties of digital urbanism globally, and we compare notes on the urban development of Beijing in the 21st century.
blubrry.com/barbarians/12847…
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Xiong’an construction update: of Sinochem HQ tower nearing completion, Huaneng also supposedly done next year. China Telecom apparently has a few hundred already working here. XA is still far from being a “city” and BJ residents still finding ways to avoid moving fully to XA…
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Visited the recently opened Yinxu Museum 殷墟博物馆 in 安阳 Henan, which houses a large collection of Shang dynasty bronzes and oracle bones. The museum itself was inspired by the shape of a 鼎.
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But there’s also an increasing amount of Chinese translations of global authors available…
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was the author confused with Sri Lankan "curry leaf" which is in fact the major spice in Sri Lankan cooking and entirely different from Indian "curries"?
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Pleasant informal greenery bringing nature to Bangkok’s soi neighborhoods #urbangreenery #soi #Thailand #urbanism
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