The former Royal Asiatic Society building
Far from the maddening crowds on the Bund, the Rockbund Art Museum on Huqiu Lu (虎丘路) is a favored destination that singularly embodies the East meets West history, design and architecture of…
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The diversity of design in shikumen headers
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The Invisible Stain of Japanese Comfort Houses in Shanghai’s Lilongs
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Conversations: Jie Li on “Shanghai Homes: Palimpsests of Private Life”
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A history of the (underground) printing press in Shanghai’s shikumen
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“Chairman Mao Goes to Anyuan (安源)”: A Mural in Siwen Lane (斯文里)
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Elaborate lattice woodwork in Confucius Lane (孔家弄)
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My favorite Shanghai moments for Vogue
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Neighborhoods
The simplicity in patterned wood
I’ve always liked the predictability and soothing effect of uncomplicated patterns. This was one reason why I found myself standing in front of a discreet entrance off the…
The diversity of design in shikumen headers
What makes a shikumen (石库门) header an architectural tapestry so emblematic of Shanghai? The grey stone pediment, shaped in a triangle or semi-circle, contains designs that range from the…
Conversations
Conversations: Maureen Fan on the legacy of architect Robert Fan Wenzhao
My interview with Maureen Fan about her grandfather, Robert Fan Wenzhao (1893-1979), has been long overdue. What started as an introductory email several years ago grew into a…
Behind the camera: K.S. McMullen on filming docu-fiction ‘Nail House’
I love hearing from passionate artists who reach out to share their works – photo essays, poems, short films – a reflection of their time, consideration and dedication….
Behind the Camera: Alessandro Zanoni on Shanghai’s urban landscapes
In the years of photographing Shanghai, I’ve had a chance to meet a wide array of talented photographers and researchers as enthusiastic about documenting the city as I am. They…
Latest Posts
“Lou yusheng” and what I am reading this week
I hope you had a very festive Chinese New Year and a restful break (especially for those living in Mainland China who enjoyed a week long hiatus!). I spent…
What I am reading this week
– Suspicion can make an environment hostile to a camera, as American National Public Radio (NPR) photographer David Gilkey discovered on his 16 day Trans-Siberian journey. Sometimes, we compromise…
And the dragons come aflutter …
The din of nearby crowds rivaled the incessant car honking as I alighted by the main road. Mustering great vigor, I dove into the busy pedestrian area around…
What I am reading this week
– David Campbell, who teaches International Multimedia Journalism as part of the Beijing Foreign Studies/ Bolton University joint MA program, had environmental activist photographer Lu Guang as his…
Grappling with Street Photography
I’ve been sitting on this series for a while. Well, not just this, there are a dozen others, but let’s talk a little about this one in particular….
A review of 2011 (part four)
Well, this concludes the roundup of my review of 2011. Here’s to a fresh start for the New Year with the promise of more discoveries, new insights, better…
What I am reading this week
The first reading list of 2012! Enjoy. – Invisible Photographer Asia has put together their top 10 most popular photo essays ranging from Thailand’s lady boys, post-Tsunami Japan, religion in…
A review of 2011 (part three)
This is the third installment of my review of 2011. Picking a favorite story from each month is difficult. All posts take time, including research, photo editing and writing…
A review of 2011 (part two)
It’s the second day of 2012. How are you doing on your long list of resolutions? This is the second portion of my review of 2011, a list…
Happy New Year! and 2011 in review (part one)
In the tradition of pensive reflection of the past year, I present to you the blog’s “2011 in Review”. Below is the first of four installments rounding up my favorite…
What I am reading this week
I hope this week’s longer list of links will be interesting holiday reading as we near Christmas. I’ll squeeze in one more post before I head off to Vietnam for…
What I am reading this week
– For the 3rd year in a row, the Shanghai Flickr Meetup team conducted Help Portrat Shanghai as part of a global movement which began as a way for…
Light and Fury in the Night
Standing on the roof under the darkened sky, I felt the wind knife through me, chilling me right to the core. At that moment, the lunar eclipse was…
The Cackle and Pop of Street Food
[imagebrowser id=59] Over the din of chattering crowds and honking cars, the roar of fired up woks was accompanied by the sweet and savoury smells of winter snacks…