杨思镇 (Yangsi Town) is described as a ‘城中村’ (a village within the city) and it’s an apt description. It’s an oddly shaped block of old and low, rickety buildings — on the east side of the Huangpu in Shanghai’s Pudong district, hunched against the small Yangsigang River (杨思港). Once you enter the area, you really […]
I am not sure, which or who changes faster; cities or people. Cities never change all at once, but rather block by block. This is how cities keep their character, although they constantly evolve. And maybe people aren’t so different. People say Shanghai changes so fast, but its DNA hasn’t changed in over 150 years. […]
The hustle and bustle (烟火气) at this market in Chuansha (十八铺菜市场). One of my favorite places in Shanghai. Here are photos from a year ago, and here from half a year ago. Going home with a ton of vegetables and a cow-tongue biscuit (牛舌饼).
In the summer of 2018, I moved to Shanghai and back then I only planned to stay maybe two years in China, so I didn’t consider it necessary to learn Chinese. In Shanghai, it’s OK to get by without speaking Mandarin. You either point at pictures or show the translated sentence on your phone. For […]
We’re in a little town in Shanghai’s Pudong district, named 新港集镇 — which translates to something like New Harbor Market Town. It’s just a collection of houses, but this — and the 28°C weather — is all we need. It’s so quiet here, a rare thing in Shanghai. It’s as if everybody whispers, not to […]
The best thing to come out of Shanghai’s coffee boom is 一尺花园 (One Step Garden). Their restaurants/coffee stores are always housed in well-preserved old buildings with fantastic interior design, like this old kiln in Nanhui (南汇). (The weather doesn’t help taking pictures.) Or this one in Gaoqiao (高桥古镇): This one in Qingxi Ancient Town (青溪古镇): […]
We ask for the old city wall, and the shushu points to the back: “It’s raining, take this way.” And so we go through a garage, kitchen, and up the stairs — and suddenly we’re looking out over a canal and realize we’re on the old wall. It’s in the back of a huge temple […]
I never made a good foodie, because I feel memories of places or people last longer than those of any meal. When traveling to a new country, it feels like a waste of time to spend it on food — because food isn’t fully tied to a place: you can eat sushi in Shanghai — […]
I have no ambitions to become a travel advisor or anything, but here I’m sharing some of my experiences of hikes and mountains (or mere hills) around Shanghai. Also the ones I heard about but did not go to yet. I’ve also added some 古道’s: Ancient (Merchant) Roads. These seem to become more & more […]
Today we visited the Former Site of Songhu Garrison Command (淞沪警备司令部旧址) — or in the words of Ash who gave the tip “the former police building”. The place is around a hundred years old and recently renovated. There’s a gatehouse, an office, an interrogation/torture room, and places for guards and inmates to sleep. It’s part […]