I spent my early childhood in Meilong, Shanghai — a quieter side of the city far from the skylines and the French Concession. Earlier this year, while wandering through old alleyways near the river, I came across a Catholic church standing quietly at the end of a narrow lane. The scene felt both surreal and strangely ordinary — a reminder of Shanghai’s layered history, where traces of foreign influence still gently exist within everyday local life.