Fengxian District

By:  November 12, 2023 Categories: 

Again to Fengxian (奉贤区) today. It’s part of Shanghai, but maybe the fact it doesn’t feel that way is the best part about it. So in love with this place. I know my obsession won’t last, but there’s so much to explore.

The museum bundles a lot of places we’ve already visited.

There’s an exhibition on the sea dikes of Shanghai, including a story on the Huating sea wall.

Article: The Great Wall of Shanghai

It also mentions how these sea walls were built, not just to keep the water out, but to fend off pirates.

Article: Words waiting to be spoken

It also mentions the many towns, such as Qingxi or Fengjing (technically in Jinshan District).

And there’s a segment about wars. Fengxian went through four battles, during The Taiping Rebellion, the Civil War (both phases), and the war with Japan.

Article: The Old Japanese Fortress

So many people in Shanghai are missing out by not going here. You can literally just visit by metro (line 5).

From the museum, I got some inspiration for new places to visit, and will be back to this area.

 

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