Coming along the lane, I met Comrade Zhang.

The residents of Qiu' s longtang aren' t nearly so lucky.

"All of my best memories come from the sounds I heard as a six-year-old waking up in the lilong, " she says.

Andrea's beautiful book reminds me of my childhood in the old lanes near Shanghai Conservatory.

In Nongtangs, besides hawkings of snack there were hawkings of vegetables, even live chicken and duck; Once or twice in a week, there would be hawking of redering services, such as repairing shoes.