Anchored in Wuxi

Faces of Wuxi Series, vol. 5 – Li Ji

Wuxi resident Bradley Johnson here.

I love exploring and getting to know all kinds of wonderful people in this city.

Let me tell you about Li Ji – aka "Xiao Li".

Xiao Li, certified stud. [Photo provided to wuxi.gov.cn]

I have lived somewhat of a transient life in my adult years, with long-term stays in seven different cities over the past decade and a half. Each time I make my next stop, a favorite line of questioning for family and friends to throw at me is:

"So, are you planning on settling down in [insert city] now?"; "Is this going to be home from now on?"; Et cetera.

In response, I often put forth the analogy of a ship anchoring in different ports, at different points, and for different lengths of time. Regarding my current situation, I might simply say:

"Well, I can tell you that my ship is currently and firmly anchored in Wuxi."

That is the most accurate and, therefore, honest statement I can make.

My buddy Li Ji (李季) is also anchored here. In fact, he's been in Wuxi for substantially longer than I have, but the analogy fits him just as well. Since the Faces of Wuxi series is all about sharing how the people I've come to know here are shaping and intertwined with my experience in the city I currently call home, it feels right to toss his story in the mix.

I recently spent a morning with Li Ji, or, "Xiao Li" (xiao meaning "little"), to catch up do a bit of reminiscing.

A young Xiao Li and someone that looks a lot like me. [Photo provided to wuxi.gov.cn]

We first talked about when, back in May of 2015, I took a high-speed train from my home in Nanjing on a day off to visit him in Wuxi. As I showed him a few pictures I had excavated from my archives, he said, "Dude, if you didn't have these, I would never have believed that was like ten years ago. We look so young!"

That visit was my second time ever in the city. My first visit had occurred not long after Xiao Li came to Wuxi to study at Taihu College in 2014. I had also come from Nanjing, but to see another friend, and Xiao Li was one of his roommates.

Xiao Li told me he certainly recalls meeting "some random laowai" (foreigner) that day, but doesn't remember much else. However, we apparently shared enough laughs and had enough fun to have added each other on QQ (it was a long time ago, OK?). A few months later, looking for something to do, I made the potentially foolish suggestion that I come visit him in Wuxi and join him in doing whatever he had planned for that day.

So, there I was, spending an entire morning selling fruit with him from a truck on a street corner outside the Chaoyang Fruit and Vegetable Wholesale Market. We were positioned just a few hundred meters from Zhuangqian Station on Line 1 of the Wuxi Metro. The public transportation nerd in me was excited to see such a brand-new metro system, Line 1 having just opened months earlier, in the second half of 2014.

Xiao Li on the left. If you can't smell this scene from looking at this photo, I sincerely hope you unlock that ability someday. [Photo provided to wuxi.gov.cn]

I only have those few poorly shot and grainy photos as documentation, but the memories of that day are vivid in my mind—the smell of the fresh fruit combined with grease and exhaust and cigarette smoke; the sounds and vibrations of vehicles whizzing by; and the interactions between my friend and all sorts of humans stopping their scooters, cars, trucks, and bikes on that corner, hoping to arrive at work, home, or a friend's place a few minutes later with a bag of the world's sweetest (and cheapest) fruit in hand.

It was a random experience indeed, but I had a blast that day. I'd bought fruit in similar situations before, but had never spent meaningful time with anyone on the other side of the transaction. My main takeaway from that day was simply getting to know Xiao Li, seeing just how smart, charismatic, funny, down to earth, and inquisitive he was. He asked me a ton of questions, all the while managing operations, making sale after sale, and chatting with and even helping competitors set up on all sides.

I readily admit, Wuxi previously was, to me, just part of the lineup of Jiangsu cities—Changzhou, Wuxi, Suzhou, Kunshan—that one passed through on the train between Nanjing and Shanghai. A little intriguing, perhaps, but mostly just...there.

It was, however, gradually becoming more of a real and living place to me. Instead of it "just being there", I was starting to be there, making connections with people like Xiao Li and starting to formulate the idea that Wuxi could one day be a port worthy of my fine ship.

That gradual formulation eventually led to an anchoring in 2019, when I moved to the campus of Jiangnan University to take up a teaching position. Xiao Li was still in the city, and he was still selling fruit.

In fact, when I saw him again in July of 2024, we hung out at the store he and his friend are currently selling Wuxi's famous Yangshan honey peaches out of—selling them by the caseload, I should add. That makes a solid ten years in the business. All in Wuxi.

Beyond fruit, and in line with his talents and charisma I mentioned, in 2015, my buddy also started an emcee, wedding entertainment, and clown performance business with some other friends. When I visited his apartment during my time at Jiangnan University, it was packed with equipment and props, including several new contraptions used in the new magic tricks he was working on perfecting. His WeChat moments are often packed with clips of his performances and hosted events.

Xiao Li astonishing the world at someone's 10th birthday party. [Photo provided to wuxi.gov.cn]

With his ten years in Wuxi, and so much going on, I felt it was natural to ask him essentially the same type of question I get from my nosy caring friends and family: "So, this is it, right? Wuxi is your home?"

"Nope, not at all," he casually responded.

Xiao Li, while appreciative of what he has built in Wuxi, ultimately feels most connected to his hometown of Suqian, in northern Jiangsu. In fact, his wife and child are there, and he goes back to see them whenever he can. To him, Wuxi is simply where he works and where he knows every corner and has valuable connections—a natural result of anchoring here for so many years. While he's not sure when, he knows he wants to head back home eventually.

In that way, many temporary residents of this city like myself can very much relate to Xiao Li. My time here in this city has been—and continues to be—fantastic. I am learning and exploring and enjoying my time at port. Most of all, I am making meaningful connections. That's the cool thing about being anchored somewhere as great as Wuxi, even if I can't say definitively that "this is going to be home from now on".

Send me an email if you need peaches. I can get you peaches. [Photo provided to wuxi.gov.cn]

Wuxi friends! Is there someone you think readers would like to see featured in the Faces of Wuxi series? Hit me up! facesofwuxi@outlook.com