Empire of the Sun

I have not written in this blog for ages. You know how life happens, and you think nothing interesting is happening, but really, I am sure there are interesting things going on that I will want to remember, so I will start writing more regular, shorter, blogs, in an effort to record my lifes happenings and not skip over my actual life. Isn't it ridiculous that I am only recording my travelling...I am living in Shanghai! there is so much I will want to remember just from here!

Similarly, I should really get round to putting up some posts about my time in London as well...

Where have I been the last 3 months? Well, I have still been in Shanghai - working, making new friends, and I even got to go back to Australia for three weeks to fix up my visa. My sister had a baby last week, so now I am an aunty...umm...I think that is the major news.

This little update will just be quickly about a discovery I made today. While walking during my lunch hour in the area surrounding my office (Huai Hai XI Lu, Hongqiao Lu), I passed by a heritage building sign which told me I was on what used to be Amherst Avenue (now Xinhua Lu). For those who don't know, Amherst avenue is where JG Ballard grew up during WW2, and where much of the book Empire of the Sun is set. I was very excited, as I love the book, and after doing a quick google, I found out that his actual house was a restaurant that I pass by every day!!

Now I will have to go and eat there!

It was just as you would imagine it, and I will try and remember to bring my camera to work so I can take pictures...an old french style house, in wide gardens, set on a tree lined road. The only difference is that now the entrance is on Panyu Lu, not Xinhua Lu (Amherst Avenue).

Also, both my offices in Shanghai have been on Huai Hai Lu, which I have just found out was previously Avenue Joffre, which also features in the book.

Since coming to Shanghai I have reread the book, but will need to reread AGAIN, now that I know the exact area they are talking about - right next to my office! how funny.

I can't believe that little boy pedalled all the way from Amherst Avenue to the Bund on his bike every day to see if the war had begun - it is no short distance! about half an hour in a car.

I bought the sequal the other day - The Kindness of Women - and I didn't like it as much. It is a lot darker, depressing, which you would expect considering his childhood, but it doesn't have the overall 'uplifting' feeling that Empire of the Sun does, which made me love it. (this is why I am not a book critic, and why I have refused to join my friends book club here in Shanghai).