叶晓青生前是澳大利亚麦克理大学(Macquarie University)的高级讲师,她是那种见过一面就让你很难忘记、而且可以谈得很深的人。细数起来,我和她的直接交往其实并不多,可感觉上却是平生知交。第一次见面大概在一九九五年,晓青应邀来我所在的北大中文系讲演,主持人为陈平原。那时晓青正关注晚清上海的城市文化研究,讲题大抵与她随后发表的《上海早期的城市化与城市文化》(《东方》1996年第4期)相关。其中印象很深的一个细节是,晓青重新考辨了外滩公园那个著名的“华人及狗不得入内”的牌子。她根据一九一九年泰东图书局出版的《老上海》一书记录的这条禁令全文,即第一条“脚踏车与犬 Ye Xiaoqing was a former senior lecturer at Macquarie University in Australia. She was the kind of person who met you on the side and made it hard to forget, and can talk very deeply. In fact, my direct contact with her is actually not much, but I feel it is a matter of life. For the first time in 1995, Xiao Qing was invited to give a lecture at Peking University Department where I was present. The host was Chen Pingyuan. At that time, Xiao Qing was concerned about the study of urban culture in Shanghai in the late Qing dynasty. The topic was probably related to her later publication ”Urbanization and Urban Culture in Shanghai“ (”The East“, 1996, No. 4, 1996). One of the most impressive details is Xiaoqing re-examining the famous Bund Park ”Chinese and dogs may not be admitted to“ sign. According to the full text of the ban recorded in Old Shanghai, published by the Thai East Book Bureau in 1919, the first article reads: ”