My dad would read Robert Ludlum’s books and as a kid, I thought these books where impossibly complicated literature. But rather, this book is like a good meal in a restaurant, or some action movie you turn on and lay back for. There’s some slow warm-up and then the story unfolds with a lot of […]
I’m in my pajamas reading a book in bed in my parent’s guest room — back in the Netherlands after living in China for over five years now. My mom walks into the room and sits on my blanket for a chat, but I tell her that’s so gross because she has been wearing those […]
It’s the second day of the National Holiday and we’re in Zhoupu (周浦), not for the first time. Again we’re in ‘Little Shanghai Pedestrian Street’ (小上海步行街). I want to take in some of the crowds and chaos before going to the Netherlands, and look at the barbeque stands (but not eating anything there).
I found on Xiaohongshu some pictures of Tangzhen (唐镇) taken in 1986, and realized some are on the road I cycle every day to work. So on National Day I set out to find these locations and if possible — reshoot them. Some locations are gone (or I couldn’t find them). Others were hard to […]
A ride to Datuan Town (大团镇) today, deep in Shanghai’s Pudong district. I saw a post on Xiaohongshu about it, but mostly the map made me curious, as a city block squared into tiny rivers hints at an old town. That’s not some professional knowledge I possess, but a fair guess. (But yes, Datuan was […]
I’m trying to count how many old villages I’ve visited in China, but the definition is too vague to get to a real number. Sometimes it’s a real old town, such as Shishecun or Ruyayang. Other times, it’s just an old street in a city, such as Gaoyou . Sometimes we simply visit a single building, […]
‘Past Caring’ is only the second book from Robert Goddard I’ve read, but it shares many key ingredients with ‘In Pale Battalions‘. Again it is about generations in England around World War I, a heritage house again takes a role, but most of all, it is about time. ‘In Pale Battalions’ lets us explore morality […]
Here’s a place — on the banks of the Yangtze in Taicang (太仓) — that reminds me of the one in Shanghai — which is simply about a hundred kilometers downstream. People try to catch a breeze and cool down after sunset. Others hunt for tiny crabs (螃蜞). Vendors sell snacks, cold drinks, and buckets. […]
On Xiaohongshu, a lady named Niu Er (汼二娘) walks through an old street wearing a long winter coat. After her example, we’ve traveled to the same place, but I’m wearing shorts, sunscreen, and the thinnest shirt I could find. We’re at Xijiao Street (西郊老街) in Taicang (太仓) in Jiangsu, and it’s 35°C. This street used […]