Field Notes
Stories from inside
Hardware sprints in Huaqiangbei. A $2 billion empire hiding in plain sight. AI quants running real money. Researchers with data Western academics can't access. No headlines, no press releases, just the work.
A Robot Made Me Pancakes for €1.20 in Beijing
Inside a Beijing robot restaurant where machines crack eggs, cook pancakes and deliver coffee, while the six-figure humanoids still perform on stages.
The Door America Is Trying to Close on Chinese Drug Data
Did the FDA stop accepting Chinese clinical trial data? A doctor on the sintilimab precedent, the FDA's real position, and the 2026 push in Congress to ban it.
China Ran an Experiment in 1980. It's Called Shenzhen.
China fenced off five special economic zones and let them run on different rules. Four decades later Shenzhen's economy is roughly 12,800 times bigger. A data look at the SEZs that rebuilt China, in charts, photos and on the map.
The $2 Billion Molecule I Couldn't Pronounce
How China went from generic drugmaker to selling its own molecules to Western pharma. A doctor's field note on the $2B UBT251 deal with Novo Nordisk, the GLP-1 race, and China's drug-licensing boom, from the floor of a Chinese biotech fair.
I Went to BIOCHINA in Suzhou. The Booths Were Not the Story.
A field note from BIOCHINA in Suzhou: smart injection pens, cold-chain demos, Europe conversations, and the harder question of how trust gets built between Chinese suppliers and Western buyers.
Bali Health Guide: 12 Things That Actually Make You Feel Better
The practical foreigner health guide for Bali: CO2 in sealed AC rooms, PM2.5 from burning and traffic, humidity, water, food, heat, sleep, mosquitoes, scooters, clinics, and the boring fixes that work.
Da Nang Travel Guide: The Local Version, Not the Tourist One
Most Da Nang guides recycle the same fifteen tourist spots. This one is built from the Vietnamese-language data, the restaurants, cafes and places locals rate by the thousand that English guides never show you. Where to eat, where to stay, and whether Da Nang is worth it.
High-Context Culture, Decoded: Why Vietnam Feels Like a Different Operating System
Vietnam sits in the reactive, high-context corner of the cultural map. The West sits in the opposite one. That single gap explains most of the confusion foreigners feel here, and once you see it, it stops being confusing.
How Luckin Coffee Beat Starbucks in China
Luckin Coffee went from scandal to 29,214 stores by making cheap, app-native coffee faster than Starbucks could respond. This is what I saw on the ground in China.
Foreigner Problems (& Solutions) in China: The First Month on the Ground
The real setup friction every foreigner hits in China in the first month — payments, apps, logistics, language — and how to clear each one in the Chinese ecosystem.
muShanghai Arrival Guide: Phone, Payments, Transport
How to set up your phone, Alipay, Didi, and metro card for muShanghai. Everything you need in your first 2 hours after landing.
muShanghai Budget: What a Month in Shanghai Actually Costs
Real cost breakdown for a month at muShanghai — housing, food, transport, and everything else. From backpacker to comfortable.
muShanghai Life: Food, Gym, Getting Around
Practical guide to daily life during muShanghai — where to eat, work out, do laundry, and what apps you need.
Where to Stay for muShanghai 2026: The Complete Hotel Guide
Six hotel options near the muShanghai campus in Minhang — from the Steigenberger 4-star to affordable Chinese business chains under 400 RMB/night. All walkable to the venue.
The Best Hostel in Shenzhen That No Foreigner Knows Exists
Inside Nantou Ancient City, a Chinese bar brand built a community hostel with in-room art exhibitions, rooftop terraces, and a daily citywalk. It's rated 9.6/10 — and completely invisible to Western travelers.
I Got My Ingrown Toenail Fixed by a $2 Billion Empire I'd Never Heard Of
11pm. Shenzhen. My ingrown toenail had been getting worse for ten days across three cities. I found a 9,000-store healthcare empire that doesn't exist anywhere in the West.
The Physical AI Opportunity Nobody's Talking About
Inside Shenzhen's hardware accelerator where AI meets robotics, manufacturing, and the real world. Six RFPs that show where physical AI is heading.
This Is Perfect, Oh My God — Meeting a Digital Labor Researcher in China's Visa-Free Zone
A chance encounter with Professor Gu Chudan at Donghua University turns into a deep dive on China's gig economy, platform workers, and why Western researchers can't get this data.
Inside a Pop-Up City in Shanghai
muShanghai brought together founders, builders, and dreamers from around the world for a week of building in Shanghai. Here's what actually happened.
AI Trading in China's Stock Market — AgentBull Is Betting Real Money on It
Richard and his team at AgentBull (煜马) built an AI-native quantitative system using OSINT data and reinforcement learning to trade China's A-share market. They're now running 2–3 million RMB in live trades.
The Shenzhen Hardware Guide — What Huaqiangbei Actually Looks Like in 2026
Forget the YouTube videos. Here's what the world's largest electronics market actually looks like when you walk in with a prototype idea and no connections.
How BYD Passed Tesla (And Why Western Automakers Should Be Worried)
In 2025, BYD sold 2.26 million EVs — beating Tesla by 600,000 units. The man who built it was an orphan chemist who couldn't afford textbooks. This is the story of how he disrupted the entire automotive industry.
China Visa Guide 2026: Complete Visa Application Guide for Travelers
Everything you need to know about the China visa application process in 2026. Visa-free entry, tourist visa (L visa), 240-hour transit, passport requirements, and how to apply at the Chinese embassy or online.
How Four Friends Built a $30 Billion Travel Empire (And Beat Expedia at Their Own Game)
Most people have never heard of Trip.com. But here's what they don't know: Trip.com Group processes $160 billion in travel bookings annually — making it the largest OTA in the world by GMV.
They Slept in the Bushes Outside Hong Kong Airport. Now They Own the World's Largest Factory.
Two brothers from New Zealand landed in China with $12,000. Twenty years later, they're billionaires building the future of housing.