Today we visited the Former Site of Songhu Garrison Command (淞沪警备司令部旧址) — or in the words of Ash who gave the tip “the former police building”. The place is around a hundred years old and recently renovated. There’s a gatehouse, an office, an interrogation/torture room, and places for guards and inmates to sleep. It’s part […]
We parked the car and crossed the river across a narrow stone bridge, and it’s as if we went back a few decades. Mass had just finished in the church, and both outside and inside were ayis and shushus finishing their lunch. A father came to us asking whether we too would like to eat […]
A good hike is like a good meal, as in that you can still recall most of it, and you’re just grateful you’ve witnessed it. Maling Ancient Road on Tuesday (alone) was like that, and today as well (with Eva). Shangqing Ancient Road in the Keqiao district of Shaoxing (绍兴柯桥区) is a more widely covered […]
There are dozens of ‘ancient roads’ (古道’s) scattered across the provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangsu. The moniker surely has some historic roots for some of these places, but is also romantic marketing aimed at attracting people. Zhejiang alone renovated or built over 1200 kilometers of walking road, installing toilets, bins, and signage — and properly […]
I have a deep gratitude for each Mandarin teacher who has taught me — and in many cases, I also feel attached to their hometowns, as those are often discussed when practicing new phrases — back and forth. Even more so with Clytie, because she filmed her hometown Changshu (常熟) nearly three years ago. Ever […]
This weekend is an island — as in that I worked every day for the past three weeks, and it looks like the next two weeks won’t be any different. It’s not so much that my body is tired, but my mind sure feels bruised. I hope to find some rest in Lili (黎里), an […]
I usually shop at the supermarket, everything wrapped with shiny logos or labels. But Eva likes the market — and I’ll agree with her, it doesn’t get fresher than this. Chuansha (川沙十八铺农产品批发市场).
When I lived in Rotterdam there was this story about German tourists who’d ask “Wo ist die Altstadt?” (Where is the old city?), apparently not knowing that ‘the Germans’ bombed it to the ground during the Second World War. The irony of course being that ‘they’ (those tourists) would somehow be responsible for that. And […]
Circe sits in front of a mirror and holds a cup to Odysseus. It’s a painting by J.W. Waterhouse, and also the background of a classical music playlist on YouTube. I clicked on it because I saw Circe on the thumbnail — about who I had just finished reading the book by Madeline Miller. When […]
My dad would read Robert Ludlum’s books and as a kid, I thought these books where impossibly complicated literature. But rather, this book is like a good meal in a restaurant, or some action movie you turn on and lay back for. There’s some slow warm-up and then the story unfolds with a lot of […]