Autumn in Zhangjiagang

Autumn in the Jiangsu city of Zhangjiagang (张家港).

Because of the rain we have the park (香山) almost for ourselves.
Still, there’s a sign warning against PDA. First time I’ve ever seen one and it almost reads like a joke? The second part of the translation should be: “Refuse intimate contact.”

In the Buddhist temple, Eva recognizes the accent as from Rugao (如皋), a city across the river. After a bit of curiosity both ways, we find out the man and his whole family were sent here to man the temple.

In the city center, we found this Xinjiang food store with the most fantastic naan (馕) & samsa (烤包子). See the Uyghur script on the top of the storefront. Also the lady (wearing an Uyghur shirt) spoke Uyghur with her husband, and standard Mandarin with us.

Latest

Travel plugs

Travel plugs

In our new house, many appliances still get their power through a travel adapter. Eight years in China was long enough to not only put down roots and settle in, but also for everything we owned to end in a Chinese plug: my MacBook, the coffee machine, the rice cooker, the baby monitor. The appliances […]
September 21, 2026
Twenty-three years

Twenty-three years

In June we moved back to the Netherlands, six suitcases across 8000 kilometres, and after a brief spell at my parents’ place, we moved into our own home. This second move also involved putting down carpet, curtains, buying appliances and furniture — so that our new garage quickly filled with cardboard boxes and other packaging […]
August 29, 2026
Searching for meadows

Searching for meadows

Our new home in the Netherlands sits in a mundane residential area full of young families like ours. The street name comes from made (‘meadow’), still referring to a field that once lay here and now survives only in the name (just how the name Shanghai refers to a river that no longer exists). And […]
August 5, 2026
Degrees of wealth

Degrees of wealth

In eight years of living in China, taxi drivers or older colleagues loved to ask, “Which is better, the Netherlands or China?”, hoping for a single insightful answer that would explain everything. And now, back as a resident in the Netherlands, people ask the mirrored version: do I miss living in China? Neither question is […]
July 11, 2026