How do you view China?
If I were a romantic, I’d paint a picture of China’s social and economic contrasts. A stalwart worker poised on his bicycle, a mode of transportation that once…
中国
Everyday is bring-your-child-to-work day
At the moment, existing or ‘live’ old neighborhoods that are spared from the wrecking ball are either refurbishing their exteriors or reconstructing in slivers of spaces that can…
Some grow up tough
Others are born tough. He stared intently into my camera and slowly brought his handkerchief up toward me, as if he was readying to wipe my lens….
Alley bend blur
“When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race.” ~ H.G. Wells
When you slow down
The days have been dreary here in Shanghai. Nasty wet, grey gloom and all-round chilly. That afternoon, I had descended into a mood I couldn’t get out of….
A negotiation in bread
The jolly baker was a fixture at the market where teaming masses of human bodies bumped and jostled their way around. He always had a smile on his…
Recounting childhood memories
This past weekend, I met with Terence Lloren who runs “Growing up with Shanghai”, a project series of sound walks with young Shanghainese who grew up in the city in…
Hello, goodbye, again and again
“You missed them. They left two weeks ago for their hometown in Jiangsu.” The neighbor shivered a little in her shapeless coat while stirring a pot of boiling…
A balloon a day…
A neighborhood market can sometimes be like the beating heart where all arteries lead to, the arteries being the longtangs or alley houses that surround it. There is…
Home owner, house father
I had never met a resident in the longtang (弄堂) who owned all three floors of his shikumen (石库门). The structure is traditionally narrow – the door opened into…