Views: 15 The super-conductivity of Han-blue. Frans Vandenbosch 方腾波 19/01/2026 The alchemists who conquered colour: how ancient China mastered synthetic chemistry 2,800 years before Europe. Long before European chemists stumbled upon synthetic dyes in their 19th-century laboratorie ...

Views: 59 Divergent paths of control and acceptance.   Frans Vandenbosch 方腾波   05/01/2026 Shadow economies, street vendors and the state’s relationship with ordinary commerce: a comparison of China and the EU The informal economy occupies a peculiar space in mod ...

Views: 74 Europe’s financial surveillance has made ordinary family support a matter for the state. Frans Vandenbosch 方腾波   16/12/2025 There is a curious paradox in how the world’s major powers approach financial support within families. In the European Union, a gr ...

Views: 39 Reflecting on articles that challenged comfortable narratives. Frans Vandenbosch 方腾波   29/12/2026 The year 2025 stripped away our last illusions as European mirrors reflected only a diminished and unflattering truth. Global events have forced us to acknowledge our f ...

Views: 75 Final reflections on an extraordinary travel. Frans Vandenbosch 方腾波   25/11/2025 Koh Samui Our journey home took us from Koh Samui to Singapore, then Zurich, and finally to Brussels. The airport on Koh Samui features a simple single landing strip, with its te ...

Views: 25 Thailand – Koh Samui Frans Vandenbosch 方腾波 18/11/2025 Shanghai – Bangkok – Koh Samui After all our travels in China, this is the last part of our long journey through Asia. We have moved from the bustling, modern metropolis of Shanghai, via the lively centre of Bangk ...

Views: 74 Shanghai (again)   Frans Vandenbosch 方腾波   11/11/2025 After our Nanjing and Taiwan trip, we returned to Shanghai. Chinese coffee brands are brewing a revolutionary new chapter China, the ancient homeland of tea, is in the midst of a profound bever ...

Views: 78 Nanjing Frans Vandenbosch 方腾波   28/10/2025 Our journey from Shanghai to Nanjing aboard a Chinese high speed train highlighted China’s remarkable efficiency. This busy connection features four separate tracks in parallel, with trains departing on average every ten minute ...

Views: 196 Shanghai Frans Vandenbosch 方腾波 14/10/2025 ALDI in China The German ALDI supermarket giant opened its first stores in China in June 2019. Today in October 2025, there are some 80 ALDI stores, most in Shanghai. Only since April they started to expand to Suzhou and Wuxi. ALDI ha ...

Views: 102 Beijing, Shenyang, Dandong Frans Vandenbosch 方腾波 07/10/2025 Westerners in China Walking along the streets of Beijing, Shenyang, Dandong and Shanghai, compared to 10 years ago, it is remarkable how few young Europeans or Americans are left in China. These days, there are m ...

Views: 117 The ideologies we embraced don’t even begin to make sense in light of real-world evidence. Alex Krainer 15/07/2025 This article is re-published with the approval of Alex Krainer, the author of “TrendCompass” For generations now, western economic ...

Views: 65 From confrontation to cooperation Jan Oberg  08.07.2025 This is an article, re-published with the approval of the authors of “If You Want To Understand China” – Foreword, Intro and Content of a TFF anthology. In July 2020, former US Secreta ...

Views: 323 How Confucian culture first delayed and then accelerated China’s innovation.      Frans Vandenbosch 方腾波  04.07.2025 Smashing the European myth For centuries, Western narratives have portrayed science and technology as exclusively Western ach ...

Views: 40 The immense cultural differences between China and the West make the discussion about the technology competition pointless. Peter Peverelli • 15 july 2025 Chinese vs American application of AI; cartoon RedNote (disclaimer) Culture What most Westerners fail to understand is ...

Views: 48 China’s long term strategy paid off. The West never saw it coming    Frans Vandenbosch 方腾波  08.07.2025 Since the turn of the 21st century, China has not merely participated in global systems shaped by Western powers; it has decisively reconfigured them. From t ...