This weekend I went to Ningbo for a Chinese language study trip with GoEast Mandarin, and for the first time I took my bike with me on the highspeed train. It’s allowed when you can put it inside a bag, and it’s a total game-changer. I arrived in Ningbo and set out to the village […]
It’s the first good weather weekend without covid restrictions, in more than a year. The parks and streets of Yangzhou (扬州) fill with people. Dongguan Street (东关街) is 1146 meters long, filled with the smell of fried food from both sides and people everywhere. The cooking installations burst out of homes and onto the streets. […]
If you walk, you’ll always discover something new. But actually, as soon as I got off the train in Huai’an (淮安) in the Jiangsu province, I start to wonder if that’d be true this time. All I see are empty plots and modern highrises, and I know that if I’ll walk ten kilometers here, I’ll […]
We’re in Shen’Ao (深澳村) near Tonglu (桐庐). The average age of the tourists is around thirty, while I’m sure the average age of the local residents is nearly double. Most buildings are over a century old and in pretty bad shape — although I do think this used to be a comfortable village to live […]
Today brings us to Shishecun (石舍村) in Zhejiang. We’re here after a tip from Ash, but we’re not the only non-locals — despite this place not being on Dianping. There’s an attraction to off-the-beaten path locations, especially during the last days of the Spring Holiday break. And Shishecun is beautiful. Some buildings here were built […]
The crowds at Qiandao Lake (千岛湖, literally meaning ‘Thousand Islands Lake’) today. We sit on the boat, and over the intercom we get some background of the human-made lake, but people only start paying attention when the lady introduces lunch options and prices. A shushu proudly says his daughter studies in Germany, and opens his […]
We’re in Jiangwan (江湾) in the Jiangxi province. “Ayi, why don’t you use a laundry machine?” “This water is free.” “It’s not cold?” “We got used to it.” We drive up a random mountain with a nameless road (the map shows 无名道路). All the houses are built with white walls and black tiles; the Hui […]
We visited two villages today, Chenjiapu (陈家铺) and Xikeng (西坑). Both are north of Songyang (松阳) and ‘touristified’ (for instance, Chenjiapu has a ‘design’ hotel & book store), but you can still see the original village in between the cafes & hotels, with lots of houses made of rammed earth (夯土). Chenjiapu (陈家铺) The freedom […]
A five-hundred-kilometer drive to Yunhe (云和县) today. Very little traffic, the only real ‘traffic jam’ recharging near Jinhua (金华). Following a friend’s advice: “Don’t eat anything at these rest stations, on the road you don’t want an upset stomach (拉肚子).” Famous Jinhua ham (金华火腿) is on sale here too. We drove to the famous Yunhe […]
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, […]