In a Japanese restaurant in west London, this Chinese woman felt truly at home | Xinran

In my younger years I travelled all over China. But on a culinary tour of Bayswater with my son, I tasted belonging

In our end of year series, writers and public figures remember the place or time when they felt most at home

In 2006, during his gap year before starting university, my son Pan set out to discover a “world beyond books”. After spending four months backpacking through Australia and New Zealand, he shared with me his most profound realisation from his travels: the meaning of home.

He told me: “Some people live in luxurious mansions but rarely share dinners or weekends with their families. Others, in crowded cottages, are enveloped daily by the sounds of children playing and the aroma of home-cooked meals. Some reside deep in the mountains, knowing every blade of grass, bird and rabbit, while others traverse busy city districts yet remain strangers to their own neighbours.” His words made me think about the places I have called home.

Xinran is founder of the Mothers’ Bridge of Love and the author of nine books, including The Good Women of China, China Witness, What the Chinese Don’t Eat, The Promise and The Book of Secrets

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