The week before I left Shanghai was dizzying. The roof of our old Shanghainese house gave in to the typhoon rains and water poured into our apartment in three places, flooding the floor. The rain triggered the circuit breaker and…
When it rains..
This weekend, it poured. It didn’t just pour, it typhooned. I got caught in a massive rainstorm running errands on Saturday and hid out under an awning on Changle Lu while the rain came down in sheets and other people…
How to find an apartment in Shanghai
Step 1: Break out a bottle of 6 RMB baijiu, because this isn’t gonna be easy.
Wet Hot Shanghai Summer
I have no idea how to start writing this blog post, because I’m drenched in sweat and that’s all I can think about. We’re currently in a Heatmaggedon (if CNN made Snowmaggedon a thing, I can call this Heatmaggedon). It’s…
Crawfish boils aka how to trick people into thinking you’re glistening, not sweating
The roar of the cicadas in the summer is deafening. The past few weeks have been deafening, sweltering, and muggy. Seriously, Shanghai is a stifling oven cracked all the way up to broil. Actually, no, not an oven. That’s not…
Shanghai and the art of letting go
The first time it happens, you rarely notice it. First it’s your favorite Hong Kong Milk Tea kiosk replaced by metal shutters. Then, it’s a laptop repair kiosk torn apart overnight, used USB cables dangling amongst newly-drying racks of giant…