Alexander Boyd
@alexludoboyd.bsky.social
Associate Editor at China Books Review // Peace Corps China Clique // ex-China Digital Times //
personal blog: www.ramble.media
personal blog: www.ramble.media
The modern world
November 14, 2025 at 8:19 PM
The modern world
Socialism with Chinese Characteristics: Good!
November 14, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Socialism with Chinese Characteristics: Good!
Jeremiah's latest Archive Pick is really quite something, was an honor to join him on a special editions of Barbarians!
(read the article, it's great: chinabooksreview.com/2025/11/11/h...)
(read the article, it's great: chinabooksreview.com/2025/11/11/h...)
November 14, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Jeremiah's latest Archive Pick is really quite something, was an honor to join him on a special editions of Barbarians!
(read the article, it's great: chinabooksreview.com/2025/11/11/h...)
(read the article, it's great: chinabooksreview.com/2025/11/11/h...)
Good words thread 🧵
1. Garrigue: a scrubland biome found around the Mediterranean, specifically in France.
h/t: John Minford in intro to Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio by Pu Songling
1. Garrigue: a scrubland biome found around the Mediterranean, specifically in France.
h/t: John Minford in intro to Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio by Pu Songling
November 14, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Good words thread 🧵
1. Garrigue: a scrubland biome found around the Mediterranean, specifically in France.
h/t: John Minford in intro to Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio by Pu Songling
1. Garrigue: a scrubland biome found around the Mediterranean, specifically in France.
h/t: John Minford in intro to Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio by Pu Songling
this entry in @jeremiahjenne.com’s Archive project is a gem.
Read @jeremiahjenne.com latest Archive Pick, "From Heaven Lake," a travelogue by the acclaimed Indian novelist Vikram Seth's recounting his overland journey from Nanjing to New Delhi via Tibet in 1982: chinabooksreview.com/2025/11/11/h...
November 12, 2025 at 2:23 PM
this entry in @jeremiahjenne.com’s Archive project is a gem.
Reposted by Alexander Boyd
NED – China Digital Times: 2025 Democracy Award Honoree
www.ned.org/china-digita...
www.ned.org/china-digita...
China Digital Times: 2025 Democracy Award Honoree - NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR DEMOCRACY
NED honors China Digital Times for its unwavering commitment to chronicling the Chinese people’s struggle for freedom.
www.ned.org
November 10, 2025 at 8:14 PM
NED – China Digital Times: 2025 Democracy Award Honoree
www.ned.org/china-digita...
www.ned.org/china-digita...
Reposted by Alexander Boyd
"Countless Yingzhis live among us, while the Zitaos of China are fading away with time. The tears of Chinese women, if unleashed, could drown a nation."
For @chinabooksreview.com, I write about gendered violence and illusions of liberation through two novels by Fang Fang (tr @bairuiwen.bsky.social):
For @chinabooksreview.com, I write about gendered violence and illusions of liberation through two novels by Fang Fang (tr @bairuiwen.bsky.social):
No Country for a Woman | China Books Review
Women in China have suffered abuse, silencing and erasure — despite the Communist Party’s slogans about women’s liberation. Two novels by the Wuhan writer Fang Fang show how gendered oppression persis...
chinabooksreview.com
October 9, 2025 at 3:12 PM
"Countless Yingzhis live among us, while the Zitaos of China are fading away with time. The tears of Chinese women, if unleashed, could drown a nation."
For @chinabooksreview.com, I write about gendered violence and illusions of liberation through two novels by Fang Fang (tr @bairuiwen.bsky.social):
For @chinabooksreview.com, I write about gendered violence and illusions of liberation through two novels by Fang Fang (tr @bairuiwen.bsky.social):
a guy who makes cookies & posts about it in insta came up to me while recording on his raybans in Minneapolis and frankly it was quite invasive. he was sweet but if he'd asked to record me I would've given a real review of the cookie. instead it was a "no thanks, best of luck."
October 6, 2025 at 10:30 PM
a guy who makes cookies & posts about it in insta came up to me while recording on his raybans in Minneapolis and frankly it was quite invasive. he was sweet but if he'd asked to record me I would've given a real review of the cookie. instead it was a "no thanks, best of luck."
The day I left for America.
October 6, 2025 at 12:52 PM
The day I left for America.
very cool translated short story + interview combo, give it a read!
Read Fei Dao's Q&A on Chinese sci-fi, and his story "The Storytelling Robot," translated by Alec Ash: chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/18/s...
September 19, 2025 at 1:16 PM
very cool translated short story + interview combo, give it a read!
Reposted by Alexander Boyd
Read Fei Dao's Q&A on Chinese sci-fi, and his story "The Storytelling Robot," translated by Alec Ash: chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/18/s...
September 19, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Read Fei Dao's Q&A on Chinese sci-fi, and his story "The Storytelling Robot," translated by Alec Ash: chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/18/s...
Three Days of the Condor was almost an all-time Secret China Movie™.
RIP Robert Redford
RIP Robert Redford
September 16, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Three Days of the Condor was almost an all-time Secret China Movie™.
RIP Robert Redford
RIP Robert Redford
“be right there, dude, I’m on the L. Ron Hubbard express.”
September 11, 2025 at 7:48 PM
“be right there, dude, I’m on the L. Ron Hubbard express.”
Texas A&M has as much free speech as Shanghai. None.
In 2021, a Chinese student secretly recorded his teacher questioning the Nanjing Massacre's death toll — a Party taboo.
He also said she's a "walking $500k," a reference to the award money for turning in traitors to secret police.
In 2021, a Chinese student secretly recorded his teacher questioning the Nanjing Massacre's death toll — a Party taboo.
He also said she's a "walking $500k," a reference to the award money for turning in traitors to secret police.
September 10, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Texas A&M has as much free speech as Shanghai. None.
In 2021, a Chinese student secretly recorded his teacher questioning the Nanjing Massacre's death toll — a Party taboo.
He also said she's a "walking $500k," a reference to the award money for turning in traitors to secret police.
In 2021, a Chinese student secretly recorded his teacher questioning the Nanjing Massacre's death toll — a Party taboo.
He also said she's a "walking $500k," a reference to the award money for turning in traitors to secret police.
Reposted by Alexander Boyd
The Shiji abounds with examples of corrupt, venal, or stupid rulers getting cosmic comeuppance. In today's timeline, it's almost quaint to believe in a universal order that punishes terrible leaders.
Read more in my latest for @chinabooksreview.com
chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/09/s...
Read more in my latest for @chinabooksreview.com
chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/09/s...
Sima Qian: Records of the Grand Historian | China Books Review
History is supposedly written by the victors. Sima Qian, author of China's original historical classic, showed it could also be written by the condemned.
chinabooksreview.com
September 10, 2025 at 10:48 AM
The Shiji abounds with examples of corrupt, venal, or stupid rulers getting cosmic comeuppance. In today's timeline, it's almost quaint to believe in a universal order that punishes terrible leaders.
Read more in my latest for @chinabooksreview.com
chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/09/s...
Read more in my latest for @chinabooksreview.com
chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/09/s...
reading a very popular book right now and....
September 9, 2025 at 6:17 PM
reading a very popular book right now and....
Translating literature is a brutal and impossible task, so this is not a criticism of the translator.
But am I insane for saying that translating this line, "香港不也是中国的地盘吗，所有需要证件的地方，她一概不能去" as "Hong Kong was part of China" is a real loss?
But am I insane for saying that translating this line, "香港不也是中国的地盘吗，所有需要证件的地方，她一概不能去" as "Hong Kong was part of China" is a real loss?
September 9, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Translating literature is a brutal and impossible task, so this is not a criticism of the translator.
But am I insane for saying that translating this line, "香港不也是中国的地盘吗，所有需要证件的地方，她一概不能去" as "Hong Kong was part of China" is a real loss?
But am I insane for saying that translating this line, "香港不也是中国的地盘吗，所有需要证件的地方，她一概不能去" as "Hong Kong was part of China" is a real loss?
DC house parties are fun, actually, and everyone hating on them here is talking about a small subset of staffer functions that wrap up by 8:30...
September 8, 2025 at 3:26 PM
DC house parties are fun, actually, and everyone hating on them here is talking about a small subset of staffer functions that wrap up by 8:30...
LeBron James' essay in the People's Daily, the mouthpiece of the Party. An odd move for such a image-minded man, especially as the essay was actually written by a People's Daily journalist based on an interview.
September 8, 2025 at 1:56 PM
LeBron James' essay in the People's Daily, the mouthpiece of the Party. An odd move for such a image-minded man, especially as the essay was actually written by a People's Daily journalist based on an interview.
The Red Wind Howls, states @bennoweiner.bsky.social in this magnificent new review, "is a monumental literary achievement, an act of defiance that helps pierce a regime of forced forgetting."
Tsering Döndrup's magnum opus is now available in English — read it!
chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/04/i...
Tsering Döndrup's magnum opus is now available in English — read it!
chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/04/i...
Ill Winds In Tibet | China Books Review
A banned Tibetan novel, now published in English, recounts the devastation of Mao's campaigns in the wake of the Amdo Rebellion of 1958.
chinabooksreview.com
September 4, 2025 at 1:36 PM
The Red Wind Howls, states @bennoweiner.bsky.social in this magnificent new review, "is a monumental literary achievement, an act of defiance that helps pierce a regime of forced forgetting."
Tsering Döndrup's magnum opus is now available in English — read it!
chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/04/i...
Tsering Döndrup's magnum opus is now available in English — read it!
chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/04/i...
Reposted by Alexander Boyd
Please check out my review of Tsering Döndrup’s magnificent and important novel, *The Red Wind Howls* (tr. Chris Peacock) in @chinabooksreview.com
(then read the book!)
Thanks to editors @alexludoboyd.bsky.social and @alecash.net
chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/04/i...
@columbiaup.bsky.social
(then read the book!)
Thanks to editors @alexludoboyd.bsky.social and @alecash.net
chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/04/i...
@columbiaup.bsky.social
Ill Winds In Tibet | China Books Review
A banned Tibetan novel, now published in English, recounts the devastation of Mao's campaigns in the wake of the Amdo Rebellion of 1958.
chinabooksreview.com
September 4, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Please check out my review of Tsering Döndrup’s magnificent and important novel, *The Red Wind Howls* (tr. Chris Peacock) in @chinabooksreview.com
(then read the book!)
Thanks to editors @alexludoboyd.bsky.social and @alecash.net
chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/04/i...
@columbiaup.bsky.social
(then read the book!)
Thanks to editors @alexludoboyd.bsky.social and @alecash.net
chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/04/i...
@columbiaup.bsky.social
this story could not be more tailored to me. How Chinese pigeon passion has fueled a crime wave in the Flemish countryside…
www.washingtonpost.com/world/intera...
www.washingtonpost.com/world/intera...
The pigeon heist: How racing birds became the target of organized crime
Pigeon races in Chinese cities became opulent symbols of China’s economic boom, with purses over $100 million — exceeding most of the world’s major sports.
www.washingtonpost.com
September 4, 2025 at 12:55 PM
this story could not be more tailored to me. How Chinese pigeon passion has fueled a crime wave in the Flemish countryside…
www.washingtonpost.com/world/intera...
www.washingtonpost.com/world/intera...
Another podcast! Was wicked fun to chat with bossman @alecash.net about the worst China books around — tune in to the China Books Podcast and check out our other episodes too while you're at it!
chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/02/e...
chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/02/e...
Ep. 24: China Conspiracy Theories | China Books Review
From Covid as a bioweapon to Chinese soldiers infiltrating America, Alexander Boyd discusses the right-wing conspiracy theories that lead our ranking of bestselling China books.
chinabooksreview.com
September 2, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Another podcast! Was wicked fun to chat with bossman @alecash.net about the worst China books around — tune in to the China Books Podcast and check out our other episodes too while you're at it!
chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/02/e...
chinabooksreview.com/2025/09/02/e...
great essay from @arthurkaufman.bsky.social
Fight Over “Correct” Historical Memory Permeates China’s War Anniversary Commemorations
Fight Over “Correct” Historical Memory Permeates China’s War Anniversary Commemorations
China is scheduled to host a large-scale “Victory Day” military parade on September 3 to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II (referred to in China as the “War of Resistance Against Ja...
chinadigitaltimes.net
August 28, 2025 at 4:16 PM
great essay from @arthurkaufman.bsky.social
National Guardsmen armed with rifles on the DuPont Metro platform this morning — there is no possible justification for them carrying rifles beyond intimidating the people of D.C.
Truly despicable.
Truly despicable.
August 27, 2025 at 1:56 PM
National Guardsmen armed with rifles on the DuPont Metro platform this morning — there is no possible justification for them carrying rifles beyond intimidating the people of D.C.
Truly despicable.
Truly despicable.