For Saturday’s (20 May) outing, we went to sketch No. 543 Guangdong Road, at what was formerly known as the Central Hotel (中央旅社), built around 1929 and owned by the Chief Inspector of the Police Force in the International Concession, Lu Liankui （陸連奎）. It was also known to be the gangsters’ den. Lu Liankui’s story was he was rural area and escaped to Shanghai getting caught defrauding people during his stint as an orderly. When he arrived in Shanghai, he saved a rich man who in turn wrote him a recommendation letter which he used to his advantage, signed up with Huang Jinrong’s gang, and then rose up to his…
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Last Saturday, 13 May, the sketching location was around Xiao Nan Men (小南门), which is not too far from my home. We have sketched here in the past but not this year so far. As per Tōnis’ (@vanishing.shanghai) observation, this part of the Old Town stands out as the most “green” with plenty of plants, foliage, trees, and vines hanging down electricity lines. It was great that I decided to venture out early that morning for sketching was a delightful experience, as it allowed me to take in the vibrant energy of the locality. From delivery men in electric bikes deftly maneuvering their way around the narrow lanes to vans…
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The recently concluded Drawing Shanghai exhibit showcasing select sketches of Shanghai’s local life that is slowly vanishing as the city is rapidly modernizing and “upgrading” the standard of living of locals. Soon, longtangs or communities that are quintessential Shanghai will be long gone. We hoped with this exhibit we can at least immortalize the local lifestyle through our sketches. “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Thank you for stopping by.
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What can I say? December turned out so completely different from what I had envisioned to be and what I had hoped it to be. Things that were part of our everyday almost since 2020 like scanning QR codes, PCR testing at least every 72 hrs, checking of green codes in public places and other restrictions, were suddenly lifted. Suddenly, the COVID virus spread like wildfire and once again, Shanghai buckled down from COVID infections, everything (at least almost everything) went upside down fast. I was feeling like another lockdown (like what happened in March/April of 2022) was happening as the city suddenly went silent by mid-December. Schools had already…
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The last time I posted an “Around here…” series was back in May. I cannot believe it has been that long, really! The flurry of activities that came about as we came out of lockdown was just overwhelming. A bit of warning, this post of photo-heavy. June: First order of business after lockdown was doing the round of hospital/doctor visits. Then came the search for apartments since we needed space for a family of 7; that includes our 4 rescue/adopted cats. With the exodus of expats, there is more option but of course I had to ask the neighbours for their experiences during lockdown because I need to be prepared…
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May came and went like a blur, between the dullness of our days, to creating some sort of routine to not spiraling mentally… basically a cacophony of emotions and ups and downs. We have been given some more food rations from the government ranging from toiletries, condiments to veggies and meat. There were still constant testing between antigen test kits and the PCR tests. An excuse to go out, rain or shine, but also too much of a hassle, trying to spray/disinfect where we went. Have been baking a lot since there’s no way to buy bread. And with shortage in yeast, had to jump into the sourdough starter adventure.…
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Spring time in Shanghai is looking so different this time. Varying forms of lockdowns are going on around the city as the local government tries to find ways to curb the rising number of COVID-19 infections from Omicron. We have also done several nucleic acid testing within our apartment compound as well as antigen tests. Kids have gone to virtual learning and are past the 1-month mark now. My office have switched to working from home almost the same time as my kids did as a precaution. Fortunately, we did so at the right time because some colleagues were on swift action lockdowns. I cannot help but look back and…
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Perfect weather means sketching outdoors is even more exciting and inspiring. After days of dreary cold weather and plus being sick with a bad cough for over a week, I was just dying to get out and do some sketching. The venue for our sketching group was at the Duolun Culture Street, more specifically the old Protestant church called Hongde Church, formerly known as the Fitsch Memorial Church. The interior has been mostly been renovated as most of the church was damaged during the Cultural Revolution. Actually I did a warm up sketch inside the church (above), before moving outdoors to sketch the exterior; well, at least, part of the…
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Freezing cold but at least was a dry morning when we ventured out to the Changning District’s Sieh Yih Chapel. For this outing, I decided on doing vignettes. Brought a new sketchbook from SMLT Art and with the weather, I was fine with just doing a pen-&-ink sketch and alternating between with black and white brush pens. A bit of history Xiyantang, commonly known as “Xiyan Cemetery”, is also known as “The Ascension of the Virgin”, it was built in 1929 for the famous Catholic figure Ma Xiangbo and others, covering an area of 63 acres. The church in the cemetery is used for worshippers to hold burial ceremonies and…
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Xiao Nan Men area of Shanghai is mostly where a lot of old neighbourhood still remain, a maze of longtangs and old houses, in some areas, some “new” houses have been built. Part of this neighbourhood is up for demolition, reconstruction or in limbo. These old neighbourhoods are my favourite places to sketch because I can record a bit of the local life while sketching; sights, sounds, and smells. For this outing, I decided to stick to pen and ink sketches and journaling on the side. It was tricky to do any watercolour around where we were sketching. Location: Around Xiaonanmen 小南门; specifically Dafufang 大夫坊 and Heshunjie 和顺街 Thank you…
