The new place in Pudong

By:  November 26, 2022 Categories: 

So I just moved across the river in Shanghai, from Yangpu to the edge of Zhangjiang in Pudong.

Leaving the compound & apartment with our stuff in the van was a big relief — to leave behind this place where we spend the 60-day Shanghai lockdown. Every time I entered the apartment I still got those memories; the walls, the windows, the cupboards with rations & antigen tests.

Some neighbors heard I was leaving and came to say goodbye, plus the baoan helped move boxes into the van (货拉拉). The downstairs neighbor with the husband who fought in the Korean war: “Ah, you’re going to Zhangjiang Hi-tech park (张江高科技园区), smart people there.”

The new living area is much smaller so the risk of being locked down is also decreased, but it’s kinda sick that I took this into consideration when picking a new place to live.

Latest

The Lies We Tell

The Lies We Tell

I left my hometown when I was 19. After nearly two decades in a dozen Dutch cities, Sydney and Shanghai, I’m back. I push Hasse’s stroller and see once again these streets and buildings that are old yet ever new. Everything is closer than I remember it, distances I travelled as a teenager seem now […]
October 27, 2026
Dit is ook China review

Dit is ook China review

‘Dit is ook China’ by Cindy Zhu Huijgen isn’t a perfect book. And yet it’s enjoyable, and when you turn the last page and close it, you’re — rather than feeling relieved — you’re just glad you read it, and you’re glad you’re a person who reads books. Before starting, I was a bit discouraged […]
October 26, 2026
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