As I was reading through the many descriptions of cities in Invisible Cities, I tried to imagine which of the ones depicted had some sort of resemblance with any city I had visited before. This was a bit of a challenge with cities that had more abstract descriptions, particularly for those labeled as “Cities & the Dead”. However, one particular city that stood out to me was the City of Esmeralda, a “city of water”, with “a network of canals and a network of streets [that] span and intersect each other” (79). I found this city quite memorable due to its dynamism: with its network of uneven paths able to be traversed by boat or by foot, there seems to be an infinite possibility of routes to take. With the different “steps, landings, cambered bridges and hanging streets”, people of Esmeralda are spared of a repetitive path, and can always find new routes leading to the same destinations (79).
Another reason why I find the city of Esmeralda memorable is that it reminds me of Zhujiajiao (朱家角) a watertown in the outskirts of Shanghai that I got to visit during a day trip in my Sophomore Spring semester. Though my trip to Zhujiajiao was short, the town was so interesting and fun to explore due to its various bridges, canals, and small shops that my experience there is still fresh in my mind. Interestingly no matter where we went, we didn’t really get lost – many parts of the town were so memorable that it was easy to retrace one’s steps and go back to where one was originally. The network of canals and streets of Esmeralda also instantly brought to mind a short boat trip I took during my day trip in Zhujiajiao. Even though it lasted less than 5 minutes, it provided an interesting viewpoint of the town, where I could see the many zigzags and levels that made up the town. Overall, these similarities between both cities made me really appreciate reading about Esmeralda, as it allowed me to remember Zhujiajiao and think of it in a different light as I think back to my experience there 2 years ago. In a way, this reminds me of Marco Polos’ statement, “Arriving at each new city, the traveler finds again a past of his that he did not know he had: the foreignness of what you no longer are or no longer possess lies in wait for you in foreign, unpossessed places”.
