Yet. when one quiets down, he may feel that the clamor he once found tiresome is, in retrospect, warm and nostalgic.

In contrast to Manhattan with towering high-rises, people prefer the ancient lanes bathed in sunlight beneath the red dome of Florence; in contrast with the brilliantly lit Lujiazui at night, they prefer the Wanhangdu Road filled with the laughter and play of children. Older as we grow, what looms up in our dreams should be the serenity of the old dark gray houses, the gentle hawking in Suzhou dialect, and those small lanes pervaded with warmth and recollections.