If you've never seen Far West China, it's a pretty fantastic blog written by an American expat living in Xinjiang. Since the unrest in Xinjiang this summer, the blog has become a platform for airing the Kafkaesque circumstances that have been imposed on the region. From posts on the psychological effects of the complete internet blackout to the numerous new security checks at mosques and on buses, as well as the increases in tourism to Dunhuang for web access, the blog chronicles the very human issues involved. Personally, we can't even imagine what months without internet would be like, and we're sure that's the least of their concerns. Photo byRemko Tanis @ flickr more ›

Holland Cotter, the New York Time’s art critic has been traveling in China as part of a series “Throwing Open the Doors” that explores how China's shifting self-image is reshaping its art and art institutions. His second piece on Dunhuang’s Mogaoku, also known as “peerless caves” is a thoughtful and evocative piece on the nature and history of the Buddhist grottoes. Cotter was lucky enough to be able to spend the night at the site rather than in the city with the permission of the Dunhuang Academy, the Chinese conservation and research body that oversees the cave. more ›