Jaap Grolleman

Thank you man!

What I’ve learned from living in China for seven years - Jaap Grolleman I am not sure, which or who changes faster; cities or people. Cities never change all at once, but rather block by block. This is how cities keep their character, although they constantly evolve. And ...

Money, family, communication, and exploring life.
Lessons from seven years in Shanghai:

jaapgrolleman.com/lessons-seve...

Rainy Fengcheng - Jaap Grolleman We ask for the old city wall, and the shushu points to the back: “It’s raining, take this way.” And so we go through a garage, kitchen, and up the stairs — and suddenly we’re looking out over a canal ...

More words and photos here, also about a visit to an old city wall: jaapgrolleman.com/rainy-fengch...

Places like this feel like a temporary exhibition, as one day these streets and villages won’t exist anymore. I’m sure other people will take photos, will we be able to find and see them? That is something I don’t control. But this I do.

Fengcheng (奉城镇) in the rain.

Sometimes I wonder why I like to visit these places, but maybe taking photos is just an excuse to keep looking. But I do also think it’s something valuable.

The empty road around Shaoxing - Jaap Grolleman A good hike is like a good meal, as in that you can still recall most of it, and you’re just grateful you’ve witnessed it. Maling Ancient Road on Tuesday (alone) was like that, and today as well (with...

Today's hike; Shangqing Ancient Road (上青古道) near Shaoxing (绍兴).

More words and pictures:
jaapgrolleman.com/the-empty-ro...

Another village appears - Jaap Grolleman There are dozens of ‘ancient roads’ (古道’s) scattered across the provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangsu. The moniker surely has some historic roots for some of these places, but is also romantic marketing a...

The towns of Luci (芦茨乡), Maoping (茆坪村), and Shishecun (石舍村) today, alongside the Maling Ancient Road (马岭古道).

(This is probably the best hike for Shanghai-based folk.)
jaapgrolleman.com/maling-ancie...

Back to Gaoqiao (高桥) today, with its Guanyin Crown (观音兜) buildings. 42KMs done despite not feeling like exercising ✌️

Notes from an earlier trip: jaapgrolleman.com/gaoqiao-unin...

Tiramisu in Changshu - Jaap Grolleman I have a deep gratitude for each Mandarin teacher who has taught me — and in many cases, I also feel attached to their hometowns, as those are often discussed when practicing new phrases — back and fo...

Changshu (常熟) today, searching for little blessings and tombs.
jaapgrolleman.com/tiramisu-in-...

Taitai: "When my grandmother was still alive, I took her to the first Transformers movie (2007). It was her first time in the cinema. She was so afraid of the screen, and the sounds that she wanted to go outside. I said, “it’s just fake, try it, you’ll get used to it."

A hundred kilometers from Shanghai and a thousand miles from work - Jaap Grolleman This weekend is an island — as in that I worked every day for the past three weeks, and it looks like the next two weeks won’t be any different. It’s not so much that my body is tired, but my mind sur...

A church and 'oil blocks' in Lili (黎里).
jaapgrolleman.com/lili/

I usually shop at the supermarket, everything wrapped with shiny logos or labels. But Eva likes the market — and I’ll agree with her, it doesn’t get fresher than this.
Chuansha (川沙十八铺农产品批发市场).

Friend: “I used to work at a store called JeansWest (真维斯) in Nanjing. I didn’t get any hourly pay, just a percentage of the clothes sold. So customers would ask: “Does this look good?”, I’d always reply “Yeah amazing!” But I always felt the clothes we sold were ugly."