I made the trip to some old buildings in the area after a tip from Historic Pudong, to see where the name of the area comes from ~ the contrast between a Ming dynasty pawn shop and today’s high-tech park in Shanghai. Several hundred years ago, a guy named Zhang Jiang (张江) opened a pawn […]

Working in Zhangjiang hi-tech park (张江高科技园区). Our latest portable prototype is missing, everybody panics. We watch the security camera. In the evening it’s charging on the edge of a table, but then falls on the floor as someone bumps against the table. Then in the early morning it’s thrown away by the ayi. The guy […]

I’ve just finished learning ‘Mastering Chinese, Listening & Speaking 6’ (会通汉语 – 听说6). It’s an OK language-learning book, on the upside there aren’t as many idioms as the Developing Chinese series (发展汉语). The first chapters are extremely difficult, the last few are just pure propaganda: An American lady who lives in Beijing complimenting how well […]

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 […]

Maybe it’s because I’ve just been on a long trip, but watching ‘A touch of Sin’ (天注定) made me feel like being on one as well — to a place I cannot go back to now. China in 2013: Shanxi (山西), Chongqing (重庆), Hubei (湖北) & Guangdong (广东). Regardless of whether the story grabs you […]

Chicken soup & (very oily) stir-fried niangao (年糕), made by a half-drunk chef in Lishui (丽水). Pickled cabbage (雪菜) and pink white sugar cake (白糖糕). Red braised pork belly with meigan cai (梅干菜红烧肉) in Jiangwan (江湾). Not sure if I ever had meigan cai before, it’s pickled, dried, and steamed vegetables from the Shaoxing (绍兴) […]

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 […]

Long waits for chargers during the Spring Festival holiday. We’re near the border of Jiangxi & Anhui, and we cannot find a battery swap — so we need to charge as well. We’re already charging but the new cars arriving have no space to queue and randomly find spots. It’s a funny spectacle. The Tesla […]

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 […]