When Breath Becomes Air review

You’d think the world has enough books from terminal cancer patients, who, in the face of death, try to give us all an urgent message that money and careers don’t matter — but only love does. And how would anyone disagree with those sentiments, taking place in hospitals and bad-news conversations. The message is always the same — and this book is no different. The key difference is that this one is written to sing a beautiful yet sad song — the words flowing into a single note, thick of human insights and wondering. It’s such a good book because even before his terminal diagnosis, Kalanithi loved books and wanted to write — and I think parts were written before the diagnosis, because that is exactly what a person who writes such a book would have done. It’s a sad book but you feel better about everything after reading it.

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Arriving at an emotion

Arriving at an emotion

Before moving to China, I wondered what it’d be like to live in an entirely different environment — and it was the same for holidays like Cambodia or Vietnam, or when Hasse was born. You try to imagine these things and how they’d make you feel, how you’d react, or what they’re like. But everytime […]
April 10, 2026
People of Nantong

People of Nantong

I’m carrying Hasse around in Nantong (南通), in the historical block surrounded by the Haohe River (濠河) — while Eva in the hospital visits a sick relative. Hasse, being a seven month old baby, is a true 显眼包 (eye-catcher), so dozens of bypassers turn their head or want to touch her (which I quickly have […]
April 4, 2026
Cozy market alleys and pot stickers

Cozy market alleys and pot stickers

We’re in  Zhuqiao Village (祝桥镇), again. I love these old streets, filled with market stands or scooters and trikes parked everywhere. These alleys are so full of life, devoid of big brands with their uniform protocols and brand guidelines. And because the whole scale of it is smaller than modern shopping malls, everything feels so […]
March 31, 2026
Forgotten patch of land

Forgotten patch of land

The hardest thing to get in Shanghai is silence and solitude, yet there’s this strip nearby our apartment that does provide these things — a patch of land that city developers had no use for. The first time I came here and entered, suddenly something felt weird until I realized it was the absence of […]
March 27, 2026