Xinchang (新场) is Shanghai’s best old town. Second time there, back for some 蟹壳黄(Crab shell yellow). It’s hot, it’s packed, and shops are doing well — which is great to see.
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China travel
Scorching Songjiang
The playing, the rider, and the painted (Songjiang today). I’ve sinned a bit. 4A and 5A tourist attractions in China are horrible, but we did go to Guangfulin Relics Park (广富林遗址) today, which classifies as 4A. It was good though. Lots of old buildings on the huge premise, most if not all reproductions & a […]
Two hours to Huzhou
Every hike is its own little story. Today, Luyu Ancient Road (陆羽古道) in Huzhou (湖州) with friends & ten thousand mosquitoes. A two-hour drive from Shanghai and you’re in a totally different scenery. (Two hours back and you’re surrounded by glass, concrete & coffee stores again.) We only took the 6KM trail but with a […]
Lots of history, but we’re just casually observing in Songxicun
Songxicun (嵩溪村) today, with buildings from different centuries. Lots of history here, but we didn’t really study all the plaques or Baidu, we just had a quiet day in between the rain showers. Amazing woodwork here in this temple. No visitors around, just corn left to dry. The village has two creeks coming together, one […]
Numbers in Pinghu
“Our neighbors left, the house next to theirs burned down and it also ruined their roof.” Had he not told me this, I might have not noticed the charred beams. We’re in Pinghu (平湖市钟埭老街) and the man lives in a house alongside the Corridor Shed (廊棚), which was built about a century ago when China […]
The empty town in Shanghai
A trip to a deserted old movie set today, in the far southeast of Shanghai. Dongxu Village (东旭村) will probably soon be wiped off the map, but movies like Green Snake (青蛇) were filmed here, over 30 years ago. I found it when looking for old towns on Xiaohongshu, including a tip to find the […]
Long-necked chicken
We’re in a restaurant known for its fried potato chips/cookie things. (Oily but good!) One customer is having a jest with the owner. Both ladies of around the same age. The customer ordered a quarter of a chicken that comes served in chops, but shows her plate: “So much neck! There’s no meat on that! […]
Words waiting to be spoken, in Zhelin
A shushu grabs my bag, tries to stop me: “Where are you from?” I’ve no idea where this is going, but I say I’m from the Netherlands, to which the man replies: “Oh, bordering Germany and Belgium. 40,000 square kilometers.” I admit to him that don’t even know that last part. (Later I google it: […]
‘Sea Salt’, near the sea
The city Haiyan (海盐: literally Sea Salt). Kids are playing in the mud, trying to catch tiny crabs, and fishers (men & women) are reeling in their nets.
Sweaty Shaoxing
32 degrees and the heat is soaked up by the stone roads and stone houses, and ultimately our bodies. It’s sweaty Shaoxing. We head to 八字桥 (Character Eight Bridge), because it looks like the character ‘Eight’ (八). Nearby is the St. Joseph’s Church (八字桥圣若瑟堂), built in 1871 but today mostly used for photos & basketball. […]