Views: 2 Autumn in Shanghai: weddings, violins, queues and afternoon tea. Autumn in Shanghai is a season of contrasts. The city is proud, well organised and still negotiating what home really means. In this instalment, we attend a wedding at Taiyuan Villa, the restored Hudec mansion on Ta ...

In this travelogue, I recount my autumn 2026 return to Shanghai, where I feel an unclenched sense of freedom that contrasts with growing caution in Europe. I describe quiet electric traffic, live music at Abbey Road, a wedding, QR-tagged plane trees, a community service station, and a painting craze ...

Views: 36 The Chinese real economy crushes the West’s hollow service model Frans Vandenbosch 方腾波 07/09/2026 It wasn’t China that built the economic meatgrinder. Von der Leyen’s Brussels built it, feeding the European economy in pieces to please her American masters.For deca ...

Views: 74 The Chinese industry conquers the European market, sector by sector Frans Vandenbosch 方腾波 31/08/2026 It wasn’t China that built the economic meatgrinder. The Brussels EU built it, feeding the European economy in piece by piece to please its American masters. The ultimate out ...

Views: 68 The cracks in the western system By Professor Zhu Andong 朱安东 Translated and published by Frans Vandenbosch 方腾波 06/07/2026 Photo: Professor Zhu Andong (朱安东), Dean of the School of Marxism, Tsinghua University By Professor Zhu Andong (朱安东)¹Dean of the School of Marxism, Tsinghua ...

Views: 99 Shanghai city life Frans Vandenbosch 方腾波 04/05/2026 New shop opening in Shanghai Xujiahui Grand Gateway 66 South Tower. What a mad rush ! Lunchtime on the pavement At lunchtime, the small restaurants are bustling and packed to the brim, so people spill out on ...

Views: 80 Hidden gems in Shanghai Frans Vandenbosch 方腾波 27/04/2026 Sunday afternoon coffee at the crossing of Jianguo road and Jiashan road. Maoming lu The current Maoming Road (茂名路) in Shanghai was once a street with a distinctly European identity, known during the Fr ...

Views: 84 Shanghai Frans Vandenbosch 方腾波 13/04/2026 All the common tourist spots in Shanghai Dentist Dental treatment in China definitely is at a higher level than in Europe. No waiting time for an appointment, cost approximately 1/3 of the cost in Europe. The Pudong tower ...

Views: 109 Here in Shanghai Frans Vandenbosch 方腾波 06/04/2026 VLIS party at the belgian consulate in Shanghai We’re in China again. This time we will stay for quite some time in Shanghai. Direct flight and top service with Hainan Airlines. On a straight line from B ...

Views: 111 A study in civilisational grief Frans Vandenbosch 方腾波 16/03/2026 Photo credit: tearsofdeepgrief Symptoms A French veteran shouts at a Beijing waitress in a language she does not understand. Young Americans drift through Shanghai, certain the world owes them a living, and t ...

Views: 101 Unity and peace for our fractured world, beyond nostalgia. Frans Vandenbosch 方腾波 16/02/2026 Zhou Enlai, Mao Zedong and Zhu De during the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China, held in Yan’an in 1945. Help, I’m getting Communist From scepti ...

Views: 171 A visitor’s testament to a people who remember how to sing. Frans Vandenbosch 方腾波 02/02/2026 All photos © Frans Vandenbosch 方腾波 2025 In April last year, I wrote Peace, harmony and happiness in China. That article struck a chord: many of my readers in Europe found it di ...

Views: 53 Reflecting on articles that challenged comfortable narratives. Frans Vandenbosch 方腾波   29/12/2026 The year 2025 stripped away our last illusions as European mirrors reflected only a diminished and unflattering truth. Global events have forced us to acknowledge our f ...

Views: 100 Ideology in the west and the search for analytical rigour in China Frans Vandenbosch 方腾波  17.12.2025 Sociology in crisis: China’s alternative paradigm. This article examines the profound crisis in Western sociological and liberal art education and the vigorous ...

Views: 162 Freedom, democracy and truth. Frans Vandenbosch 方腾波  10.12.2025 For the fainthearted: In this article, I will invite you to some self-reflection. I will challenge you with some uncomfortable observations about common patterns in our society. For those who prefer not ...