Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Shanghai: Our Gateway to China
The Oriental Pearl TV Tower has become the iconic signature of modern Shanghai. It symbolizes China's headlong embrace of modernization & capitalism. This is the view across the Huangpu River from the Bund.
Huangpu River Tour Boat
The Bund
The word "Bund" means an embankment or an embanked quay. Now a major tourist attraction, Shanghai's Bund has a rich history. You can see some of the historical buildings, lining the Huangpu River, that once housed numerous banks and trading houses from Britain, France, USA, Russia, Germany, Japan, The Netherlands and Belgium, as well as the consulates of Russia and Britain, a newspaper, the Shanghai Club and the Masonic Club. The Bund lies north of the old, walled city of Shanghai. This was initially a British settlement, later the British and American settlements were combined in the International Settlement. For the rest of the story, search for "bund" on Wikipedia.
Busy bazaar by Yuyuan Guardens
Guardian Lions
The Chinese are historically infatuated with lions, even though the animals are not native to China. They were thought to have been introduced to the culture as early as AD 87. They can be seen everywhere, guarding homes, banks & businesses. Female lions are identified by having one paw resting on a baby lion. Actually, I'm not sure what the creature on the right is supposed to be. It looks like a lion's head on a horse's body.
Many Dieties
Budding Musicians at the Children's Palace
Even when you know you're being given a huge dose of propaganda, one can't resist the charm of children. This is a recital given by musically gifted children attending the "Children's Palace of the Arts." They play a variety of European and traditional Asian instruments. We were allowed to explore the school freely.
Shanghai Museum
Propaganda Poster Art Centre
Mao commissioned the finest illustrators in China to create propaganda posters glorifying his regime. Thanks to a Lonely Planet guide we found the Propaganda Poster Art Centre in the basement of a bland housing project. It houses a wealth of original posters from that era. I remember the sentiments expressed here well from the Vietnam War era. The poster we purchased is far more artistic than this one.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Shanghai Urban Exhibition Hall
A huge scale model of the ambitious plans to expand modern Shanghai. Of course, if you've seen "An Inconvenient Truth," you know it will all be underwater soon anyway. Three Gorges Dam opponents also believe the dam will rob Shanghai of much-needed silt & Shanghai will sink. Doomsday prophecies have no appreciable effect on the exhuberance of Shanghai city planners, though!
World Famous Chinese Acrobats
Monday, September 18, 2006
Interesting English
One of the joys of foreign travel is finding signs in one's native tongue. Interestingly, the English in these signs is mostly correct--just used differently than native speakers might express themselves. It was reassuring to enter a public toilet in Beijing knowing it had a four-star rating. And talk about multi-tasking--how about that "complaining" and "helping" telephone?
Monday, September 11, 2006
Chongqing's Ancient City Wall
Like their medieval counterparts in Europe, Chinese cities surrounded themselves with massive walls for defensive purposes. Only about 200 metres of Chongqing's ancient city wall remains, but it's a pretty cool place. We were there early in the morning so happily there weren't many people around. The ancient stones contrast with the modern high rise buildings surrounding the wall.
Defenders Above
Invaders Below
Atop The City Wall
Dancing is Great Exercise
The Market
In France you become accustomed to people taking their dogs everywhere with them, but I didn't expect the same devotion in China. This pooch gets a free ride while its mistress (oh, sorry, SF PC police) er, pet guardian, shops for produce. That's a pretty darned big dog to sling over your shoulder & take shopping with you!
Children Are Cherished in China
There is some concern that China's "one-child" policy will produce a generation of selfish, self-centered, over-indulged individuals. Only time will tell. In the cities, children are obviously pampered and adored. We were wandering around Chongqing when these young ladies confronted us. They were clearly pleased with themselves for their boldness. The pleasure was all ours.
Appealing Kids
The little girl in the yellow jacket is peddling roses to tourists. The guy she's talking to finally caved in and bought a rose. The little boy with the "deer in the headlights look" was afraid of me but his family wanted me to take his picture, so I did. He ducked out of sight right after I snapped this shot.
Fore and Aft
Bao Lun Temple
Monk at Work
So-Called "Ancient City"
Candy Dragons
Authentic Old Town
To my delight, once you get away from the tourist haunts, there is an authentic Old Town behind the Faux Old Town. Here people don't live in glitzy high-rises; they live in old stone houses. They hang their laundry out the window to dry. They sit in the sun and talk to their neighbors. They looked at me a little curiously as I explored their neighborhood, but didn't seem to mind my being there.
Laundry-Lined Lanes
What Sights Have These Eyes Seen?
Night Scenes
European Eyes
Chongqing From the Zangtze River
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Three Gorges Dam: Monster or Miracle?
The Chinese are proud of this enormous (in every sense of the world) achievement. We saw the dam just a few months before construction was officially completed. Whole books have been written about this controversial dam, so I won't even attempt to address all the pros and cons of building it. It's now a done deal. BTW, it's ironically appropriate that I could't take a decent picture of the dam because of the horrible air pollution. You wouldn't believe how difficult it was to pull out even this much detail in the picture.
For excellent information about all aspects of the dam, and of modern China, go to:
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/1999/china.50/asian.superpower/three.gorges/
Locked in Three Gorges Dam
Obligatory Picture of Self With Dam
It's a universal impulse. What can I say?
I really, really hated the Three Gorges Dam. I wanted to see it and I did, but I was not edified by the experience. Dams can be breathtakingly beautiful, like Boulder Dam near Las Vegas, but Three Gorges is heinous. I took a bunch of pictures at the dam itself and at the "scenic" viewpoint, but yuk. They're all ugly.
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