New Picks of the Month

More recommendations from three years ago this month...

It's really hard to pick just one post from Froogville. I think April 2009 may have been one of my richest ever months on there. I think I'll go for the succinct frivolity of The ming pian game, some amusing ideas for a self-description I might add to the next set of business cards I get printed. [However, this recollection of my first visit to China (in 1994!), this idea for a cartoon, this speculation on the causes of Beijing's dearth of rainfall, this heartbroken haiku, this collection of somewhat abstract photographs, this selection of North Korean pick-up lines, and this celebration of some of my favourite experiences in the cinema are also strong contenders.]

There's less of a wealth of choice over on The Barstool (I was perhaps distracted - or impaired - by my notorious Nanluoguxiang bar crawl in that month: 15 or 20 bars visited in one day!!). I think my choice here must be Gan bei! (Surviving the baijiu ritual), some valuable advice for dealing with the mass toasting that occurs at Chinese banquets - harsh lessons learned during my first experience of the country 15 years earlier.

Enjoy.