If you wish to follow (selected) articles translated into Chinese, follow 雅苑舒院 on WeChat.
Notes
The pharmacy and its tiles
The 300-year-old Shangchizhai Pharmacy (上池斋药店) in Xinghua (兴化) in Jiangsu, still in use today. The tiles on the floor are said to be imported, I actually found this out later. I did not take a good look at the floor ones and now really regret it. (The ones on the counter caught my eye, as […]
Where to travel in Shanghai
This question pops up now and then on Reddit and Twitter, and I’ve no plans to fill this blog with travel advice — listing the top ten restaurants or hotels in Shanghai — but I did start to wonder for myself, what places I’d advise to friends coming over to Shanghai for a visit. First, […]
Along the IJssel
Cycling with my brother from our hometown to Kampen and back, along the river the IJssel — which in this season has flooded the summer dikes and is held by the winter dikes. Such a long bicycle ride with my brother is always one of my favorite things to do when back home. 46 kilometers […]
Hometown forest
The forest around my hometown. Soft ground under your feet, a hundred shades of green, leaves rustling in the wind, and paths that go on and on. Not a single path is the same. Nature has left dozens of markers to let you know exactly where you are, or how to get back. There’s a […]
No signal
After attending the world’s biggest tech event, it’s nice to go to a place without any cell phone signal: Calico Basin of the Red Rock Canyon, near Las Vegas. ‘No cell phone signal’ isn’t a metaphor or anything. Having my Uber drop me off here wasn’t an issue, but when I finished the trail, I […]
Cowboys in Zhangjiang
Outside the office, we see lots of people walking with big boxes of toys and go to see what’s happening. Three ‘cowboys’ are standing next to a pile of stuff like fake Legos, Barbies, and bikes, yelling if you register for a free creditcard you can pick a box, even a bike! Lots of people […]
The bird that doesn’t eat corn
We’re walking at the quay and a single bird is hopping around, a Chinese starling. Eva, gnawing on a corn cob, throws a kernel, but the bird doesn’t bite. An old man behind us says: “She won’t eat that.” We’re all like “Ah, how do you know?”, and the man replies “She’s my pet, I […]
Fake Dutch windmills in China
I’m pretty sure there are more fake Dutch windmills in China than there are real windmills in the Netherlands. Some photos that I can quickly find in my photo album: Shanghai, Shandong, Shanghai.
Farewell My Concubine
Just watched “Farewell My Concubine” (霸王别姬). It’s not really a love drama, nor a historical film. It touches on several genres (It’s even a coming-of-age movie). It’s just incredibly poetic, and right away, I just want to watch it again from start to finish. What a masterpiece from 1993.