Dabai at my door

I was curious about the many dabai’s in Shanghai and found one in my compound who was happy to sit down with me to tell me why he signed up & more.

I think we were both a bit nervous — he for maybe saying something wrong — me of his leader coming around the corner and shooing us away.

And Geng has a bit of an accent, plus with the facemask difficult to hear. Plus, Mandarin! Trying to keep the words in my head but also some words I only understood later, such as 岗位 and 补贴.

But I’m really glad how this turned out. Dabai’s aren’t all evil as seen in viral videos on Twitter. Shanghai for sure also has those, but I think the majority are just like these guys — kids almost — just trying to be brave and help.

 

Latest

The Return of Magic

The Return of Magic

My first time in an airplane was in some Cessna 25 years ago. I had never imagined I’d ever sit in a plane, because that was something for rich people. But then after our visit to Legoland in Denmark, my dad decided we’d see the park from above. The whole was so inconceivable, not just […]
November 11, 2025
Toilet Egg Pancake

Toilet Egg Pancake

Sometimes a place or thing becomes super memorable not despite its odd name, but because of it. In Kunshan (昆山) there’s a place that sells ‘Toilet Egg Pancake’ (厕所蛋饼), because their original store was next to a public toilet. It has already moved on, but the name remains. While their pancakes are so good (and […]
November 10, 2025
These Same Roads Again

These Same Roads Again

My parents visited Shanghai for the first time in seven years, and even though the city has changed a lot, I dare say it has changed not as much as I have. Sure. On the surface of Shanghai, a lot of stores have come and gone since 2018, and large areas of the city were […]
November 5, 2025
To Taipei and Back in a Day

To Taipei and Back in a Day

I got the chance to travel from Shanghai to Taipei and back in one day. Rather impractical, very tiring, but still worth it. Because you could stay at home for ten weekends and watch fifty movies, and still not have as many impressions as this. I will refrain from acting as if now I know […]
November 3, 2025