Xiaonanmen Bell Watch Tower / 小南门警钟楼

In the old city of Shanghai, I visited the Xiaonanmen Bell Tower. The structure of the tower is an interesting mixture of concrete and steel forming an arch: it directly relates to the Eiffel Tower. According to online reports, this Bell Tower was built in 1909 by Shanghai City’s firefighters’ association. It used to be […]

[Part 2] Shamei Mansion / 沙美大楼

You know how sometimes, just after you see it, you have a building in mind and you just can’t get it out of your head? Haha I guess most people cannot really understand what I am talking about but anyway, that is what happened to me a few days ago in Shanghai when I met… […]

Shamei Mansion / 沙美大楼

During these last few days in Shanghai, I was riding my bicycle under the rain when I spotted a wonderful abandoned place: a historical building from the 1920s! After a few minutes of online research, I learned more about its past. Shamei Mansion was built from 1918 to 1921 by Atkinson & Dallas Co.ltd. It first carried the name […]

The ruins of a Buddhist temple in Xiahe, Gansu / 甘肃夏河的寺庙遗址

This summer, I was trekking from Gansu to Qinghai province starting from Xiahe, a famous pelerinage city for Tibetan Buddhism. The trek started from the Labrang Monastery and went through the grasslands. It was a long distance of 67 km so I could not really take time to wonder around too far from the trail. […]

[part 2] Bataizi Bell Tower / 八台子大单巴

I already wrote about the lost Gothic church in Shanxi province near Datong during the winter and you can read about the history of this beautiful place in my first report here. But it was such a special place that I wanted to visit it again during the summer. Now that this is done, it […]

The mysterious tomb of the Lou family / 陆征祥家族墓

I love discovering historical buildings hidden in Beijing, especially the ones that are located out of the old city center, like the former Tsinghua Yuan Railway Station. I thank my friend Wang Kun for randomly posting a picture of this place on Wechat as he passed by it. I went to check the place out […]

Bataizi Bell Tower / 八台子大单巴

Being a foreigner living in Datong is not as difficult as one would think. Not only is the city (sometimes) less polluted than Beijing, but it is also very sunny. More over, it is quite easy to ride the bicycle around in the countryside to discover interesting ruins like the yaodong cave dwelling or to […]

Tsinghua Yuan Old Railway Station / 原清华园火车站

I discovered this place when I was studying at Tsinghua University in 2007-2008. Wudaokou area is essentially composed of multistorey department stores and modern residential compounds. And yet, at the time, there were still some one-storey village houses and… one real hutong! The hutong still exists today. Hidden in the big city, one can be […]