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
The diaper store nail house
“He’s a stubborn one.” “Who?” The middle aged man pointed at a small and dusty shop, its wares piled up high on both sides of the entrance while…
Wet and windy
They had called for snow and rain, and by they, I mean the local weathermen with their annoying warnings of a cold front. By the time the sun…
Behind the Camera: Peter Dixie on Shanghai’s “Hinterland”
Peter Dixie is a Shanghai-based commercial landscape and architecture photographer, and founder of Lotan agency. Having trained first in the UK and later with a prominent Japanese film lab in Tokyo, Dixie…
马年祝福！Happy Chinese New Year!
As hundreds of Chinese families across Asia settle down to reunion dinner, I’m writing to you by the poolside under swaying palm trees, blue skies and blooming bougainvillea….
Year of the (Przewalski’s) Horse
Late December, the Hurstville Library in southern Sydney, Australia, contacted me about participating in an exhibit, “Stories of the Zodiac: Exploring the 12 Animal Signs in Asian Culture” now…
Preparing to gallop into the new year
Since I moved to Shanghai years ago, I have made it a point to visit the shops around Yu Gardens or Yuyuan (豫园) right before Chinese New Year…
A bit of London in Shanghai’s lanes
Shanghai has been enjoying spectacular weather over the last two days. Slim puffy white clouds drifted across clear blue skies, basking in brilliant sunshine. The brisk cold air added…
Take me to the white elephant
The sun shone brilliantly albeit through a light haze. My objective that morning was to photograph a particular shikumen in Xiaonanmen (小南门). And Katya Knyazeva and Ishi Mak were…
Shanghai’s lost shikumen and villas in 2013
When the editor over at Shanghaiist approached me to write a review of “lost” historical buildings in Shanghai in 2013, I hesitated for a brief moment. In an attempt to…
Heritage architecture in Penang
Things have been a tad quiet of late. After a hectic work schedule, I took a few days off to spend Christmas with my family back in Singapore….
Behind the Camera: Wu Hao (吴皓) on portraying “Rare but Real” patients
Wu Hao (吴皓) is an emerging talent in documentary photography in China. Born in Nanning, Guangxi province in 1987, he majored in news journalism in Shanghai and worked for…
Success! Help Portrait Shanghai 2013
This past Saturday, the Help Portrait Shanghai crew met in the outskirts of metropolitan Shanghai in Pudong, outfitted in face masks. The Linzhao Xincun metro station faced a massive…
My China Dream: Breathable air in a walkable city
We are choking. For the last few days, Shanghai has been engulfed in smog so thick, you can feel the dust particles percolate in your nose down through…
Propaganda artist in residence
Weaving through the lanes near Yu Gardens (豫园) or north of Old Town in Xiaonanmen (小南门), whose layout had been hugely disrupted by carelessly erected temporary walls, blind turns and open sewers, it…