再见，胡同生活

I feel as if I went into hibernation for a few days, distancing myself from social media. After moving into my new apartment, I had quite a bit of cleanup to do—both literally and mentally. I could hire an ayi to do the work for me, but somehow I figured that getting my hands dirty is more appropriate—it is a way to transition to a new place and a new way of life and work. 

Every time I move, I get a bit sentimental. So does my wife. To us, a place means more than physical existence. It has shared memories etched on it. Two years is a sizable chunk in relation to a lifetime. We loved the old neighborhood. We loved the familiar faces: the soft-spoken 60-year-old gatekeeper from Henan, the precocious teenager barista, the ponytailed Beijing daye who always sports his gourd and birdcage, the old-fashioned hawker who defies the digital way of life. And many many more unfamiliar but lovely faces. And the best dumpling diner in town, the cafe (April Cafe) that converts to a bar when the night falls, the chitchats that mark the simple and boisterous hutong life. 

After we moved, we went back once more. We took another good, hard look at our old neighborhood. It was a beautiful afternoon, not a bad moment for us to bid it farewell.

孟庆伟 Justin

个人微信 ID：justinqmeng

现象级英语联合创始人

雅思写作 8 分，口语 8 分

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Banner: No. 5, Yongkang Hutong. 

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