Kansas City’s Eastern Charm ✨

A few months ago, I listened to @Why for Jazz share the fascinating story of Lu Xianzhai, an antique dealer from the Qing Dynasty 🏺, and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, which acquired artifacts through his efforts. Not long after, by coincidence, I received a wedding invitation from a Vietnamese friend who grew up in Kansas City 💌！ Last Saturday, at the wedding, we greeted each other with jokes like, “Hey, have you ever been to this city before?” “How could I? What’s even here?” 😄 Before I could fully process the faded grandeur of this so-called “Heart of America” 💔, I was swept away by the overwhelming Chinese elements infused into the Vietnamese wedding—leaving me dazed, unsure of where I truly was 🥢🎎. The next day, inside the Chinese Temple Hall at the Nelson-Atkins Museum 🏯, I stood before the “Most Exquisite Moon-in-Water Guanyin” from my hometown province of Shanxi, and chills ran down my spine ❤️‍🔥. It was heartbreaking to reflect on how national treasures like this were displaced a century ago—the chaos and shame of plunder swirling in my mind 😔. Yet, in this overlooked Midwestern city, known mostly for its barbecue and jazz 🎷🍖, I also felt an unexpected sense of spiritual nourishment, a subtle connection to a homeland far away 🌏. It reminded me of a line I’d once read: “The self is not meant to endure, but to fully become—to live as the vivid contradiction it is.” ✍️🌱 #NelsonAtkins #TravelOOTD #RomanticizeYourLife #SlowTravel #KansasCity #NelsonAtkinsMuseum #ArtOfHeritage