Shanghai'd

First Name.

After a long discussion about mingzi last night with a friend (what will their neighbors name their baby? Bryson? Mackenzie?) I got a chance to name my own today. Not baby, but Chinese colleague who was looking for an English name to help in communication to the US. Zhang Yan is beautiful, unmistakably mixed with some middle eastern blood, or from Xinjiang, I didn't ask. We checked out some names on the web and I suggested Jasmine. For me, Jasmine is the princess from Aladdin and they have many similar characteristics - the eyes, the hair. I told her this name in Chinese - Moli Hua. There is a beautiful old Chinese song moli hua. I think she is happy with it. And I will never forget it.

Xu Jing went with George.