Searching for JG Ballard

After I recently found out that dystopian fiction writer JG Ballard was born and raised in Shanghai I went in search of his boyhood home. I had the address of the lane he used to live on - not far from Xujiahui - just a couple of miles from where I live. In case you aren't familiar with Ballard he is most well known for his book "The Empire of the Sun" , a loose retelling of his time spent in a Japanese internment camp at Longhua - which is now part of Shanghai. The book was turned into a movie in the 80s.

But before setting out for Xujiahui I made G-man a lunch of pork fried rice that came frozen and with instructions to "heat with a conflagration". I didn't think that heating the contents with an intense and uncontrolled fire would be such a good idea so I opted for a minute in the microwave instead.

I then took a taxi to Xinhua Street and found Lane 119 and walked to the end of the tree-lined lane where I found a wall and the top of a house visible on the other side of it. This was the writer-to-be's home some 80 or so years ago. Back down the lane to Xinhua Street (Amherst St.) and north to the Hello Kitty Studio - a Disneyesque retreat from the surrounding construction and loud traffic.