Old Architecture and New Research in a Chinese Little Venice - A visit to Jinze with Deke Erke and Tess Johnston

Deke Erh is a well-known local photographer, writer, editor, and authority on many facets of both Chinese and Western history in China. The largest and most charming of his several local research facilities is his Visual Documents Center in the water village of Jinze about 40km west of Shanghai. We will take a coach from downtown Shanghai to Jinze, where we will be introduced to Deke by Tess Johnston, Deke’s co-author of many books on Old Shanghai as well as an author in her own right.

We will then walk through the village to a small local eatery where we will have a simple village lunch. After the meal, Deke and Tess will lead a walk along a canal lined on both sides by native housing and a historic temple. We will then walk back to Deke’s Visual Document Centre where he will lead us on a private tour of the large complex of restored old native structures that now houses his many and varied resources for scholars and authors.

After we have perused his multi faceted collections, tea will be served in the sunny, pond-side reception room before an afternoon return to Shanghai (approximately 3:00pm).

N.B. PLEASE NOTE THAT OWING TO A LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOOKING WE ARE NO LONGER ABLE TO USE THE LOCAL VILLAGE EATERY BUT INTSTEAD WILL TAKE A PICNIC LUNCH ORDERED FROM ELEMENTS FRESH AS PER MENU PROVIDED TO CONFIRMED PARTICIPANTS, we apologies for any inconvenience caused for this change.

N.B. This event will be limited to a minimum of 12 people and a maximum of 20 people, on a first come first served basis with members having priority booking until Wednesday the 21^st March. Membership applications and membership renewals will be available at this event.