Yangpu today

By:  October 7, 2022 Categories: 

Downtown gets the wanghongs but my heart is in Yangpu.

Why I love this district of Shanghai so much, all from a ~2 hour walk today.

Living rooms extend onto the streets…

and so do shops…

It feels more relaxed, too. HEMA (盒马) delivery drivers having a lunch or waiting for their next ride.

The contrast between forlorn buildings and expensive stuff.

Yangpu has big avenues, but small alleys are more interesting.

Plus these lads. They saw I was taking photos and really wanted to be photographed as well.

Many buildings are set to be demolished. I just hope Yangpu keeps its small-town feel with independent shops when the new modern high-rises arrive.

More on disappearing Yangpu.

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