To celebrate my first goji berries.

Autumn gems.

Time to praise the chestnut tree's generosity again.

蘋果靑州五月鮮， 摘來差勝小兒拳。 憑誰倩得南飛鳥， 銜到高堂白髮邊。 Apples of Qingzhou [1] are fresh in the fifth month, Just a little larger than a child’s fist when picked. Who might entreat a bird flying south [2] To carry them to my white-haired elder at home. [1] A prefecture located in today’s Shandong Province. [2] The poet’s hometown is located in today’s Anhui Province. Album leaf depicting a bird on an apple tree, by Huang Quan 黃筌 (903-965) Image credit: National Palace Museum, Taipei 五代後蜀黃筌長春花鳥

An autumn delight.

On an unusually hot summer.

A note from the 18th-century physician, Zhao Xuemin 趙學敏 (ca. 1719-1805).

A story about how to miss the opportunity to become an immortal.

A peach recipe from Dong Xiaowan 董小宛 (1624-1651), one of the most celebrated courtesans of the late Ming dynasty; recorded by her partner Mao Xiang 冒襄 (1611-1693).

On deer in captivity.

For those who want to raise or are raising foxes in the backyard.

A delightful sight.

Following the storm last week...

Indispensable guardians of the house

More reasons to enjoy this early-summer delight.

Possible culprit behind the heatwave.

何以銷煩暑？ 端居一院中。 眼前無長物， 窗下有清風。 熱散由心靜， 涼生為室空。 此時身自得， 難更與人同。 How to dispel the sweltering heat? By sitting upright in the courtyard’s heart. Without superfluous things before [my] eyes,[1] And with fresh breezes through the window. Heat fades when [my] heart finds peace, Coolness arises as [my] chamber is empty. This hour, this sense of contentment Is hard to share with anyone else. * From Bai Juyi, Bai Juyi ji 白居易集 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1979), 28.635-6. [1] The phrase wu zhan

性質宜沙地， 栽培屬夏畦。 熟登甘似竽， 生薦脆如梨。 老病消凝滯， 奇功直品題。 故園長尺許， 靑葉更堪韲。 By nature, it loves sandy soil, And grows best in summer furrows. Served cooked, it’s sweet like a taro, Offered raw, it’s crispy as a pear. For the old and infirm, it clears stagnation,[1] A marvellous virtue, well worthy of praise. In my old garden, it grows about a foot, With tender greens fit for pickling. * From Xu Youren 許有壬, Guitang xiaogao 圭塘小藁, Yingyin Wenyuange Siku quanshu 景印文淵閣四庫全書 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji ch

A display of the lingering spring.

A backyard treat, only for a very limited period.