It also reminds me of (and makes me miss) China. And I've noticed that, since I began working there, I've started seeing elements of China in New York. Small things at first, like the erhu players in the subway, always middle-aged men of some talent. Slowly, larger patterns emerged. For the first time, I couldn't count the number of Chinese people I passed while walking through my grandparents' neighborhood (Rego Park, Queens) on one hand. Not only are they in the streets and in the stores, but they're running businesses and living in my grandparents' apartment building.

Most of the Chinese people I see on the subway now are speaking Mandarin, whether in Queens, Manhattan, Brooklyn, wherever. A New York Times article noted the beginning of this lingual shift in 2009 and since then it has slowly but steadily continued.

I didn't realize how widespread the Chinese diaspora is in New York, or that it's still growing and undergoing a demographic shift. It's tempting for me to think of these changes as new developments that followed me back from China, but these shifts have been years in the making, and it's only because of the time that I spent in Shanghai that I'm finally noticing them.

With each sighting, my memories of and feelings towards China shift away from the pollution, the feeling of not belonging, and the harsh solitude of being far away from friends and family. Instead, I remember how, every day, I devoted hours to learning another language, both by studying and by just living in Shanghai.

I think of my friends (other international students from France, Russia, Korea, Thailand, etc). I think of my bicycle — that rusty, over-priced set of wheels that were my wings as I explored the city — and the traffic that nearly destroyed it. And I think of the skyline, and of the feeling I'd get looking out from my balcony; that every day, there was something new to discover and learn in this land that was not my own.

For now, I'm enjoying my time in New York. But it's a welcome realization that, whenever I miss China, I need only take the train.

It's not the same, but it's a start.

And I can't wait to get back to China.

The author is a freelancer in America. Shanghai Daily condensed the article.