The Rush Hour movies were, for me, pretty fun to watch. I enjoyed Chan's performance, as always, and liked the play on the cultural differences. And, seems to me, just about anyone would get a laugh out of them.

I've not seen every Jackie Chan movie -- it would take forever to do that, I think -- but I've seen a fair share. The Rush Hour movies were typical... a fun watch, if not exactly deep stuff.

Merry Christmas to all! • 圣诞快乐！

The fortune teller stroked his beard, closed his eyes, thought for a moment, and said, "Tomorrow afternoon, it will definitely rain in Chang'an. Moreover, it will rain twice, and the water's depth will reach 300ml."

When the River God heard this, he could not contain his laughter, thinking to himself, "I am the River God who controls the rainfall, but I myself don't know whether it will rain tomorrow! How would this guy know? Good! Tomorrow, I will definitely destroy his fortune telling stall!"

 Subscribe in a reader

Upon discussing the movie with another friend, he told me that in order to really appreciate 2046, he felt that one had to be very familiar with all of Wong's films. I am not (yet), though I have a lot of his movies on DVD. I suppose, when I've finished watching all of them, I will one day go back and watch 2046 again, and hopefully better appreciate the movie then.

I can say that it was put together with some nice visual effects. And, while I couldn't quite get into the story, the movie was at least very pretty.

I've often wondered how it would be coming at it from the other angle. It seems to me that learning English would be extremely difficult for the native Chinese-speaker. I have noticed, in my travels in China, that it is common for learners of English there to be gain the ability to read and write more easily than they learn to speak. That is the opposite of my experience in the Chinese language, where speaking is much easier than reading and writing.

I think the reason for the difficulty most English students in China have with the spoken language lies in a lack of exposure. English language courses that I have seen in China are of high quality, but there is no environment at all outside of the classroom for the student to speak English. Most of those mainland Chinese I know who speak English very well have spent time overseas, usually studying English. If a student were to enrol in a London English School for a year or so, it would be likely to do as much good for his/her spoken language as several years of English courses in China. A student taking language courses in an English-speaking country gets the benefit of formal education alongside immersion in the language day in and day out.

Clavell's book has lots of scenes that stick out clearly in my mind, even now more than a decade since I last read it. It was well-researched and well-written.

The film, on the other hand, was fairly forgettable. I enjoyed watching it only because I already knew the story. I didn't find the acting engaging, nor was the filming particularly spectacular. The only scene that really sticks in my mind is the one where the Tai Pan was mounted atop the mast of one of the ships, overlooking the bright blue sea. That was, for me, the one beautiful scene.

Shogun was much better in film than was Tai Pan, sadly. I loved both books.

That day, the God of the River disguised himself, dressing all in white and posing as a student. In his hand waving a white jade fan, he entered Chang'an.

In a short while, he reached Yuan Tian Gang's fortune-telling stall. Rudely he said, "Hey Boss! Let me ask you, when is it going to rain around these parts? How much will it rain? How long will it keep falling? If you don't predict accurately, I'm gonna trample your fortune-telling stall. If you can predict accurately, I'll give you 500 pieces of silver."

 Subscribe in a reader