The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy review

Douglas Adams’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is Alice in Wonderland in space. I initially felt the form was getting in the way of function, with a lot of storylines on their own, but halfway through the book they did get together and so got my interest in it.

A lot happens and it becomes a fun tale of imagination. The writing is sharp and actually, the greatness of this book comes from the absurdity of the situation and the dead-pan mundane every-day-language used in it:
“We tried to revive our cleaning staff but we discovered they’d been dead for nearly thirty thousand years. Who’s going to clear away the bodies, that’s what I want to know.”

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Secret Listening #6

Secret Listening #6

This series is called ‘Secret Listening’, from the Chinese word 偷听Tōutīng. I know this can be — and should probably be — translated as ‘eavesdropping’, but secret listening captures it better and adds a bit of jest. These little stories or remarks stood out to me, and show a more personal side of China away […]
December 27, 2025
Chosen Streets

Chosen Streets

A week ago, I saw a nearby old lane (小湾老街) on Xiaohongshu — but when I wanted to take a look there, I found it was already demolished and turned into some kind of factory. I checked back on Xiaohongshu and saw that indeed, the last posts were from early 2024. There was a feeling […]
December 21, 2025
Thirty kilometers out

Thirty kilometers out

When I moved out of Shanghai’s city center, the differences were obvious to me, but now three years later I start to see the similarities again. The area in Shanghai that we live in now — the border of Heqing (合庆) and Tangzhen (唐镇) — is full of non-Shanghainese people. Many come from lower-tier cities in […]
December 15, 2025
Ways to harmony

Ways to harmony

In Shanghai, cars, scooters, or bicycles in public are exposed to the impulses of opportunistic advertisers. So while you’re asleep or at work, they may place cards or stickers — fancy designs promoting services ranging from fake diplomas to ladies of not-so-virtuous nature, as well as housing funds. I’ve been annoyed dozens of times by […]
December 8, 2025