THOMAS PODVIN’S FREELANCE WORK
Freelance writer - translator - Editor

http://www.snda.com

Chinese video game operator Shanda, founded in late 1999, has grown to become one of the biggest companies to offer online video game services . Shanda sells both imported games from around Asia, as well as home-grown products, including South Korea’s "The Legend of Mir II" and the Chinese "The World of Legend", the two most popular online games in China in 2003 and 2004.
Specializing in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Games (MMORPG) (their latest release was the cute "Magic Land"), the company also offers less demanding entries ("The Three Kingdoms"), in addition to electronic chess and board games. The site also includes an entertainment/literature portal (stories based on magic fantasy, science fiction and online games), and also a network platform for online PC games (the classic "Warcraft"). In two words, Shanda is "geek heaven"!

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
July 2005 issue

http://www.oneaday.org
Without daily practice, the possibility of mastering Chinese is as remote as Mars. Which is why oneaday.org¡¯s concept, learn an idiom a day, is so wonderfully practical. Since its launch in September 2004, this minimalist site displays Chinese idioms with pinyin and English translation. In addition, it includes an archive section and a search engine, both of which are handy tools for increasing your colloquial vocabulary. Learn how to say "Better to be a piece of broken jade, than an unbroken tile" and impress your local friends.

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
July 2005 issue

http://www.talesofoldchina.com/

You won’t find much about the complicated love/hate relationship between Westerners and Chinese people in history books. Which is a shame as these deeply-rooted patterns of interplay continue to affect the social behavior of both parties – and in much the same way. Tales of Old China attempts to decipher the complicated relationships between east and west of the past, poisoned, as they were, by arrogance and mutual incomprehension. This site provides an informative database of materials, in English, from 1840 to 1950. Required reading for modern, would-be colonialists, and anyone with an interest in China.

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
July 2005 issue