ILL GRANDEUR - Fragments of a Changing China

ILL GRANDEUR - Fragments of a Changing China

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25. "Laowai!"
In China, you never forget what you are. Walking the streets, I was a presence that could not be ignored. Faces turned, fingers pointed, voices called…
 • 
Nico Ranng
17
24. Echoes of an Immortal's step
The weekends had become my own, a chance to step outside the rhythm of campus life. I wanted to seek something deeper, a sense of history and meaning…
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Nico Ranng
7
23. The Kitchen God
The restaurant had been under construction for weeks, a barely noticeable affair wedged between two older establishments in the stretch of shops just…
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Nico Ranng
10
22. Stories of home
Light pooled through the classroom windows, settling in geometric shapes along the rows of desks. The students were waiting, their books open, pencils…
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Nico Ranng
15

May 2025

21. Girl of the pearl sea
Zhuhai welcomed us with the salt-scented breeze of the South China Sea, a welcome contrast to the landlocked heat of Guangzhou. The minibus rumbled to a…
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Nico Ranng
7
20. A brother's burden
The college had arranged the trip: a day’s excursion to Zhuhai, the seaside city pressed gently against the border of Macau. It was offered as a gesture…
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Nico Ranng
5
19. Little Africa
There were parts of Guangzhou that still resisted easy definition. For all its breakneck development - the steel and glass vaulting skyward, the…
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Nico Ranng
8
18. Performing monkeys
It had been a few months now, the initial disorientation of teaching in a foreign country had given way to a more confident rhythm.
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Nico Ranng
4
17. A countryman, a stranger
I had no classes that day. The campus was quiet, and the hum of student activity felt far away. I was in no rush, and so, with no particular purpose in…
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Nico Ranng
14

April 2025

16. Whispers of the Silk Road
The weekend stretched ahead like a blank page—an invitation, perhaps, to make sense of a city that had begun to feel like home, but which still held…
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Nico Ranng
10
15. Through the lens of change
Evening had fallen by the time we reached the edge of Tianhe. The bus shuddered down Huanshi East Road, its windows fogged with condensation, blurring…
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Nico Ranng
3
14. "I have a dream..."
The classroom buzzed softly with the murmur of students settling into their seats, their voices blending with the whirr of the ceiling fan.
 • 
Nico Ranng
7
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