Another trip to Laoximen today. The area of old Shanghai is under demolishment, and although it’s been a slow process of already five years now, some parts are already gone, others vacated, while other parts still have people living in them. The longer the demolition goes on, the less meaning Laoximen has — apart from […]
(This was my speech at GoEast‘s 10th anniversary, Saturday 22 October in Shanghai.) So if you are a bit like me you probably brush your teeth every day. Twice a day, maybe thrice. And the thing with brushing my teeth is, I don’t particularly like it. I don’t hate it either, I just do it […]
Yesterday on foot, today on wheels (still in Ninghai 宁海). First time using an electric sharing scooter. Works perfectly (but I think a ‘sharing helmet’ is a bit dirty). 10 RMB for an hour. It actually suddenly stopped. The scooter started speaking, and I got an automated call on my phone as well: “You’ve driven […]
I’m reading The Lord of the Rings for the first time and today in Ninghai (宁海) I felt much like Frodo (I’m even wearing a khotan jade ring (田玉) from Xi’an, albeit with a different purpose. Ninghai (宁海) is a small city in Zhejiang (not to be confused by Haining (海宁) in the same province), […]
Yeah covid dominates all the conversations in Shanghai, so I wanted to share about a park near where I live that re-opened after a long renovation. It’s beautiful and packed with happy people, but when I was about to leave all the gates were suddenly closed and nobody allowed in. 10:30 (AM) on a Thursday. […]
It’s alright. The beginning is slow and boring, the language so exaggerated that often it’s just cringy. the story doesn’t go anywhere (and when it does, you could see it coming from chapters before), and I almost gave up reading this. But either the author got into a rhythm, or I did, or the story […]
Downtown gets the wanghongs but my heart is in Yangpu. Why I love this district of Shanghai so much, all from a ~2 hour walk today. Living rooms extend onto the streets… and so do shops… It feels more relaxed, too. HEMA (盒马) delivery drivers having a lunch or waiting for their next ride. The […]
Dongbei stewed meal 东北炖饭. The experience is fun but the taste is a bit meh; it’s just throwing everything into a broth. (The things on the side are corn cookies.) My favorite and maybe the best thing I ever ate in China: Huaiyang steamed fish with pork on the top (淮扬菜鱼), extremely tender and […]
We stayed at Nanbei Lake (南北湖) which is a nice (yet a bit touristic) lake on the edge of the Zhejiang province. It’s all new roads and bridges, and newly planted trees and flowerbeds. Plus 美女 being photographed. Hellobike (哈啰单车) is also expanding to these sites. Family bikes and even electric ones you can simply […]
My first time on a green train, the famous (infamous?) 绿皮火车. I didn’t even realize it when buying the ticket, I should’ve bought a hard seat because I read so much about that in books about China. The old lady only spoke about her Shanghai house and how much it’s worth per square meter, and […]