Writes of Passage

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44 Jingshan W St, 景山 Xicheng District,
Beijing, China, 100009

This park is north of Palace Museum and east of Beihai Park in the heart of Beijing.

The two self-test kits were ordered on Jan 18, 2022 from nachw.org and delivered by US Postal service a couple of weeks later. They are free and were made in China.

In a WeChat group, a woman who lives in German, causally mentioned that Germany’s test kits are from China too.

• 2022.4.3, test one

^{⇐ Shanghai residents are lining up for their test. Would someone get affected this way?}

At the moment, WeChat and major media are filled with news about Shanghai’s battle with the disease. The lockdowns are severely disruptive and affecting residents gravely. From lining up to be tested multiple times again and again (guess they aren’t allowed to do the test at home, like we’re here in US/New York), as early as 6:30am on (April 4th), being lockdown at work places/offices (no condoms are provided), to shortage of foods, to deaths (a nurse was refused by the same hospital where she worked … ), corruption by officials with donated foods, to a group of volunteers in white suits are seen beating up a man (Shanghai seems to have a Lianyang 联阳小区), to how people walk there dog/pet, migrant workers aren’t being discriminated,  … Some are posted by my friends while others are forwarded by friends, which I couldn’t vouch for (maybe true or maybe just a prank). 强菜. The lines for required repeated testing 测核酸 are very long: Shanghai, Shanghai, 临时出入证 temp pass. Beijing, Qingdao, Tianjin and Tangshan, etc. are also experiencing area lockdowns. Xi’An, like Wuhan in 2020, had more than four week city-wide long lockdown (Dec 22 to Jan 24). Army descend on April 3 (4th in Shanghai). There are humors too, lessening the dire situation.

This contagious disease starting from WuHan since 2019, and now the Coronavirus Omicron variant (CDC), is still raging on. Most of us have the buster shots, and many others refuse even the first shots – such as the episode played out by Joker (Djokovic) at Australian Open – because he wasn’t vaccinated and therefore was deported.

Initially, China seemed to contain the virus better than U.S. and the West, after lockdown Wuhan (武汉封城) in 2020 for nearly three months (Jan 23 to Apr 8). It would be months before President Xi Jinping was seen in public. The bragging of ‘抄作业…copy homework’ as “they don’t know how to copy our homework” on the Chinese social media was deafening.

Nearly two years later, at the moment, China is experiencing another wave of attack from the virus.

Here is my question: If we can have made in China test at home, why can’t the Chinese in China?

这两个试剂盒是我于2022 年 1 月 18 日从一个 .org网站免费订购,几周后由邮政服务免费递到邮箱. 它们是在中国制造的. 一位住在德国的女士在我们的微信群里, 随意提到德国的试剂盒也是来自中国. 问题: 为什么国内的亲朋戚友们需要去排长队测验呢? 祈望大家都平安无事健康快乐 [拥抱][拥抱]

An elderly couple who are 90 years old, have to come down to do the testing. I’m wondering is this really necessary? My friend’s kindergarten granddaughter, after testing, returned home, lined up her toys to be tested.

我们小区笫4轮核酸了, 1是清晨我到门囗抢着买了点带鱼和夹心肉, 蔬菜亲家送了点过来. 2刚才开始排队测核酸了,  今天是2O人一队也就20人混一管测核酸. 3是我们楼上一对90岁的相依为命的老夫妻, 老先生是个总程程师老太太是个小学校长. 5儿子也要为他们俩与小孙女准备午饭了, 媳妇因工作关系已在单位吃住睡好多天了. 6是小孙女把她心爱玩具排成一圈给她们做核酸.

New York streets ⇓

I don’t understand, why Chinese in China have to line up get tested, repeatedly? Can’t they use the same testing kits that are available to us? Also, there are so many testing tents on the street in the City and hardly anyone is using them.

这两个试剂盒是我于2022 年 1 月 18 日从 nachw.org 免费订购,几周后由美国邮政服务免费递到邮箱. 它们是在中国制造的. 一位住在德国的女士在我们的微信群里,随意提到德国的试剂盒也是来自中国. 为什么国内的朋友们需要去排长队测验呢? 无意拉仇 只是想不通.

Bai’s Mansion
210 Duolun Lu/Road
Shanghai

Bai Chongxi (白崇禧 1893-1966) used to live here, Bai’s Mansion/Garden House.

白公馆现是医院门诊部. 其他几幢老宅也蛮有味道的.多伦路上各种建筑均有百花齐放的.

33 Zhongshan East 1st Rd, 中山东一路33号
Waitan, Huangpu, Shanghai

Feng wrote: 英国领事馆旧址,一西一中的建筑,2种式样的彩色地彩也很配套的.

该建筑包括领事馆和领事官邸两栋房子，始建于1849年，1870年平安夜遭到大火焚毁，1873年完成重建工程。外滩馆址最初占地126亩，目前仍存有58亩，是外滩地区唯一拥有较大规模花园绿地的建筑区域，同时也是外滩地区现存最早的建筑

Shen Bao (short for 申江新报) formerly known (transliterated) as Shun Pao or Shen-pao, in English as Shanghai News, was the second longest running newspaper in China, from 1872 to 1949. It was formed by British businessman Ernest Major 安纳斯脱

福利楼 fulilou in Zhongguancun also housed a bakery, 中关村茶点部. I took the first photo during my visit in 2014. The rest were taken by Aileen, thank you.

Someone wrote about it in 2017.

Huaxi Ave (South Section), Huaxi District,
Guiyang, Guizhou, China

My firend Li wrote: “在贵阳,参观孔学堂. 孔学堂依山傍水而建,气派非凡. 这是一个传统儒学文化传播中心,自2013年创建以来,已邀集各地专家学者,在’阳明大讲堂’ 举办文化讲座900多场,其影响力为国内各大文化书院之最. 久闻其名,今日到此一游,见证其盛况.”

Photos are from my first grade classmate Yan Dee -:)

7 Wenjin Street
Beijing
北京市西城区文津街7号

This was the old library of Peking or China: Imperial Library of Peking 京师图书馆, founded in 1909. It had moved to Purple Bamboo Park in Haidian District in 1987 and renamed to National Library of China, NLC.

^{⇐ 2018.4.15: the NLC is in the background; The rest of the photos are from my cousin Zhou Hong. 其余照片来自表姐周红.}

这个专门收藏旧书古籍馆,位于北京市西城区文津街7号,是前北图/国图: 1909 京师图书馆在广化寺, 1928 北平图书馆, 选在此地 1931年开馆时是远东最大及先进的图书馆. 1987 搬到白石桥 1999年成为国家图书馆的一部分. 2005年这个旧址成为国图古籍馆.

Parkview Green shopping center locates at 9 Dongdaqiao Rd, Chaoyang, Beijing 100010. Photo courtesy Xu.
北京市 朝阳区东大桥路9号, 侨福芳草地购物中心

This building took twelve years to complete, done in 2012, which considered long in China. The magazine AC Architectural Creation had a piece on it, published three years after, read on zhihu. The sculpture group in front of the building, depicting life in a variety of ways, is vivid.

《AC建筑创作》2015年第1期