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 […]

I’m in my pajamas reading a book in bed in my parent’s guest room — back in the Netherlands after living in China for over five years now. My mom walks into the room and sits on my blanket for a chat, but I tell her that’s so gross because she has been wearing those […]

It’s the second day of the National Holiday and we’re in Zhoupu (周浦), not for the first time. Again we’re in ‘Little Shanghai Pedestrian Street’ (小上海步行街). I want to take in some of the crowds and chaos before going to the Netherlands, and look at the barbeque stands (but not eating anything there).

I found on Xiaohongshu some pictures of Tangzhen (唐镇) taken in 1986, and realized some are on the road I cycle every day to work. So on National Day I set out to find these locations and if possible — reshoot them. Some locations are gone (or I couldn’t find them). Others were hard to […]

A ride to Datuan Town (大团镇) today, deep in Shanghai’s Pudong district. I saw a post on Xiaohongshu about it, but mostly the map made me curious, as a city block squared into tiny rivers hints at an old town. That’s not some professional knowledge I possess, but a fair guess. (But yes, Datuan was […]

I’m trying to count how many old villages I’ve visited in China, but the definition is too vague to get to a real number. Sometimes it’s a real old town, such as Shishecun or Ruyayang. Other times, it’s just an old street in a city, such as Gaoyou . Sometimes we simply visit a single building, […]

I close the door while my keys are inside. My passport Eva took. It’s 4:30 in the morning and I’ll see her at the end of my trip. There’s no way back now, as I leave Chuansha (川沙) for Haining (海宁). I remember the only other time I cycled such a distance. I watched the […]

Here’s a place — on the banks of the Yangtze in Taicang (太仓) — that reminds me of the one in Shanghai — which is simply about a hundred kilometers downstream. People try to catch a breeze and cool down after sunset. Others hunt for tiny crabs (螃蜞). Vendors sell snacks, cold drinks, and buckets. […]

On Xiaohongshu, a lady named Niu Er (汼二娘) walks through an old street wearing a long winter coat. After her example, we’ve traveled to the same place, but I’m wearing shorts, sunscreen, and the thinnest shirt I could find. We’re at Xijiao Street (西郊老街) in Taicang (太仓) in Jiangsu, and it’s 35°C. This street used […]

We’re in Fengyi (丰义村) this weekend. It’s a tiny village with just over 600 people — trying to get tourism going. It has all the ingredients for it. There’s a coffee place, a noodle restaurant, an ‘I Love Fengyi’ sign, and fake Dutch windmills around a mount that is in between a hill and a […]