Jinan, slowly

In May 2026, I finally visited Wen’s hometown, Jinan (济南), the City of Springs (泉城) in the province of Shandong (山东). It was on our list for a long long time and during this trip we walked through Wen’s memory lane. Where she went to the school all around the Shandong Normal University (山东师范大学). We of course also did some cultural things like visiting the Baotu Spring (趵突泉) and Daming lake (大明湖).

We stayed near the MixC shopping mall. Which was close to the Shandong Museum (山东博物馆). It was very impressive to see Shandong through the dynasties and learn that Confucius and Sun Tzu (from the Art of War) are from Shandong.

Wen took me to a banquet with a traditional performance. Where we also dressed up in traditional clothes. It was a great experience with nice food.

We also visited the Mingshui Ancient City (清照泉城‧明水古城), a rebuilt ancient city. It was pleasant to walk around, see NPCs (Non playable characters (performers)) providing quests. Here we also saw our first drone show, with flying phoenixes and pixel/drone art of tea pots, pandas, etc.

One of the highlights of our May 2026 trip to Jinan (濟南) was catching the dance drama (舞劇) The Great Dye House (《大染坊》) by the Shandong Song and Dance Theatre (山東歌舞劇院), performed as part of a National Arts Fund showcase in the city. Told entirely through movement, no dialogue, it follows Chen Shouting (陳壽亭), a beggar-turned-textile magnate in Shandong. After Jinan falls to the Japanese in 1937, a Japanese businessman named Fujii (藤井) forces Chen to dye uniforms for the occupying army, while Chen’s partner secretly fills a grey-cloth order for the Eighth Route Army (八路軍) — a betrayal Chen disguises by re-dyeing the grey fabric yellow to smuggle it past inspection. It closes with Chen setting his own dye works ablaze rather than let it serve the invaders.

China transformed so much, everything was very convenient and compared to the Netherlands very affordable.