And Scene

A rainy day at the Avenue of Stars, Hong Kong. The director was not pleased.

Balmy Nanjing

A balmy summer night in Nanjing. I had taken off on a spontaneous two-day trip here from Shanghai; once I arrived and felt the cool temperatures and experienced the laid-back feel of the city, I knew taking off was a great choice. Gorgeous.

Silhouette

A depressingly cold and dreary day at the West Lake, Hangzhou.

To be fair, it was October and I would have been fine had I brought a jacket. However, the day before I'd gone to Suzhou and the weather was just lovely, so naturally, I assumed a city 77 miles away would have the same temperatures.

Moral of the story: If you go to Hangzhou, check the weather first. Then bring a jacket anyway.

Tie A Red Ribbon

As I climbed Mount Tai last May, I found red ribbons tied everywhere, mostly in the temples and especially on trees like these.

I suppose they're for prayers and/or luck, but I personally love the bright contrast of the red ribbons on the green trees. I also wonder how well they hold up under intense weather conditions....?

(More Mount Tai photos here)

Lunch break

Workers on Sun Island, where all the snow sculptures are located. This is open during the day, so you go here for a few hours, and then after you have your fill of snowy Santas, you head to the Ice Festival for the real fun.

Tibetan Hallway

A Tibetan monastery in Inner Mongolia. This monastery, to be exact (and self-referential). This was a hallway to the side of the dark chamber where the monks were chanting and reciting their prayers. The sunlight streaming through the wooden bars was beautiful, the air was deliciously crisp due to the high altitude, and the faint chanting could be heard above it all...it was an enlightening way to spend an afternoon.

Phoenix Pavilion

Small temple tucked away in Inner Mongolia, Oct 2008

This pavilion has actually nothing to do with phoenixes; it's just what I think of when I see all these bold colors mashed together.

Actually, on second thought, the colors kind of remind me of Native American designs...and they employ phoenixes in their mythology, right?

Anyway, moral of the story: I like colors.

The Concrete Jungle

Well I am just freeeezing here in Etown. It's been in the upper 40s and raining all week.

So I thought I'd post a picture of much, much warmer times. Like, '90 degrees and more humid than a sauna' kind of warm. Also known as that week I spent in Shenzhen/Hong Kong.

What I wouldn't give right now for blazing heat in a city where the only escape lies is in the shadow of hundreds of skyscrapers.

I ♥ Hong Kong

The Peninsula Hotel, Hong Kong. Photo snapped while I making my way towards Victoria Harbor. This was my Twitter background picture for the longest time, actually.

Breakfast in Yinchuan

Forget about cereal. Like most meals in China, breakfast comes best cooked fresh from the street. If we notice here, the man rolls out the dough and places it in the hot oil while the woman twists it with her chopsticks. The girl (their daughter?) is the whole power behind the operation, hand-cranking the wheel that keeps the fire burning hot hot hot.

No matter what the weather, you can count on the breakfast vendors to be out. They're like the postal carriers of the street food industry. What I don't understand is why, with little competition and great demand, these vendors never charge more than a kuai or two for their delicious wares?

Beijing, blue as can be

[Summer Palace, June 09]

According to tweets from Beijing folk, the skies are still quite clear at the moment, thanks to some cloud science/magic by the CCP (depends on who you ask).

But you know, Beijing doesn't always need a national holiday to look nice. Sometimes, Beijing likes to drive the clouds away and look pretty just cause it feels like it. ^This was one of those days.

Backstory: One day in late June, I spontaneously hopped a train to Beijing. During the nine-hour ride, I started to wonder if perhaps I had been a bit too impulsive. Upon arrival, I took one look at the gorgeous weather and knew it was the universe telling me I made the right decision. I mean, if there was any one time I was going to see the Summer Palace, Houhai, and the Olympic Green...that week was it.

National Day 08

There was a giant hoopla this year as the CPC celebrated their 60th anniversary, and you'd better believe China bloggers tweeted the hell out of it.

I happened to be in Beijing on National Day last year (not by choice- it was the last leg of our vacation and we were catching the train back to Dalian that night) and while everyone was certainly filled with China love, it was to no extent the giant pain-in-the-ass military show and parade it was this year.

Case in point: I remember being most excited by the crowds in Wangfujing and this 2008 shrubbery.

Shennong Stream

An excursion into a tributary of the Yangtze River, with tour guides and boat rowers who are people of the Tujia minority. The boat rowers are also known as 'trackers' and in older days pulled boats while naked through shallow waters. We glided in small sampans through the waters, surrounded by huge cliffs on either side and remnants of their houses and land that are being overtaken for the Three Gorges Dam project. 

Photo of the Day: Crowded Quarters

Building in Shanghai that sits between Nanjing Road (the famous shopping street) and the Bund (the famous waterfront).

Part of why I love Shanghai is the history in its architecture. When I walk down streets like this, I like to imagine what the buildings (and its residents) must have seen in over a hundred years of Western occupation, growing populations, and changing technologies.

Photo of the Day: Hong Kong in Sepia

Taken from The Peak, which provides a fantastic view over Hong Kong. I spent a week there in August, while the Olympics were taking place. (If you click on the picture, it displays the picture in its original size, which lets you see more detail. I had this as my desktop background for months.)

Photo of the Day: Cards

Another sight seen all over China. So much so, that every foreigner with a camera in China attempts this shot at one point or another. This one was taken in Suzhou, outside one of the Gardens.

Of the plethora of cards photos I have, this is one of my favorites. Usually they end up being taken from far away, so as not to intrude on people/let them know I'm stalking their game, and the result is either very blurry or grainy as a result of using too much zoom. But this one I quickly snapped as I was walking past and it turned out crisp and clear, has nice composition, tells a story and all that. (In my opinion, anyway.)

Photo of the Day: Biking through Suzhou

A friend of mine came with me to Shanghai for a week in October, and after a couple days felt the need to escape the hustle & bustle of Shanghai. So we planned a daytrip and took the fast train to the water town of Suzhou. We bought a map, rented bikes, and visited the numerous gardens in the city, and had a beautiful day of sightseeing and exercise. Suzhou is definitely one of my favorite cities to visit in China.

And for the record, most of my pictures from that day were taken whilst I was riding my bicycle. Nearly gave my friend a heart attack when he turned around and realized it.

[note: today's potd was chosen as a response to Suzhou's appearance at number 14 on this list: World's Worst Places to Work]

Photo of the Day: Soup for sale, Xi'an

February 08; on Xi'an's Muslim Street- My relatives and I had stopped in Xi'an on our way home to Shanghai after spending Chinese New Year in Sichuan.

For about 50 US cents you'd get in a bowl the sweet date broth, as well as lemons, dates, kiwis, sweet fungus, etc. and a freshly cut up pear (though it tasted like a pear/apple hybrid). Sugary and warm, and perfect for a winter stroll.

(As an added bonus, but more because I find it hard to describe, here's what the final result looked like:)

Photo of the Day: Badminton with a View

A friend and I picked up a random game of badminton with some young Chinese students whilst walking behind Cheng Huang Miao in Shanghai. In the background are the Oriental Pearl Tower, the Jin Mao Tower, and the World Financial Center. October 2008.

Photo of the Day: Temple to Guanyin

Guanyin was a female boddhisatva associated with compassion and in the West is known as the Goddess of Mercy. This temple or museum (I'm not really sure what it was actually but it did have MASSIVE old rock carvings) was in Guangyuan, Sichuan Province; which was where I spent a week for Chinese New Year 2008 with some extended relatives.