China Cultural Chronicles November 19, 2012
- Chinese Dragons
Aidan McRae Thomson has added a photo to the pool:
The Chinese Chamber of Commerce building on Hill Street was on our itinerary for two reasons, firstly for being featured in my parent's photos from the 1960s (and thus one of the few landmarks remaining unchanged since that time!), but also for the rich traditional Chinese decoration surrounding it's entrance gate, including two stone lions and a pair of superb Nine Dragon Screen reliefs in beautifully coloured glazed ceramic. The dragons are vigorously posed, full of swirling movement and a joy to behold; they are based on originals in Beijing (which alas we'd missed when we visited China).
- Dragon
Aidan McRae Thomson has added a photo to the pool:
The Chinese Chamber of Commerce building on Hill Street was on our itinerary for two reasons, firstly for being featured in my parent's photos from the 1960s (and thus one of the few landmarks remaining unchanged since that time!), but also for the rich traditional Chinese decoration surrounding it's entrance gate, including two stone lions and a pair of superb Nine Dragon Screen reliefs in beautifully coloured glazed ceramic. The dragons are vigorously posed, full of swirling movement and a joy to behold; they are based on originals in Beijing (which alas we'd missed when we visited China).
- Beijing bicycle
Nico From Paris has added a photo to the pool:
- Tibet along the grasslands, 2012
reurinkjan has added a photo to the pool:
Like to see the pictures as LARGE as your screen? Just click on this Slideshow : www.flickr.com/photos/reurinkjan/sets/72157630983897338/s...
Sogwo prefecture is a region where the dominant population is ethnically Mongol, but so thoroughly integrated with the Amdowa, that only a few distinctive cultural traits remain. The yurt, the round felt tent of Mongolis, is found in abundance here, and slight differences in dress and jewellery can be detected. The best sheepskin coats, for which this region is famous, "in Tibetan called - chuba" are made from the skins of blue sheep. All 4 monasteries within the prefecture are Gelukpa.
Henan is the county capital (this is a Chinese name is there also a Tibetan name for this capital?).
Area: 6.072 sq km.
www.footprinttravelguides.com/c/2848/tibet/&Action=pr... - Chengdu Food Alley
Eason Q has added a photo to the pool:
- Chengdu Food Alley
- Chengdu Food Alley
- Chengdu Food Alley
- Chengdu Food Alley
- Chengdu Food Alley
- Shi She_2
- Shi She_1
- Downtown Kashi
Mule67 has added a photo to the pool:
It's not all tents and camels in Kashgar. Adidas and Nike stores are just below the jumbo screen!
- CN-749509
- Beijing
Witold Riedel has added a photo to the pool:
The morning in a city has a certain predictability to it. It is the time when some larger movements of people happen and they are somehow connected to the way we live. People wake up, they eat something, drink something, get to work or school. Some don't. Some get up earlier to make the movements and actions of others possible.
Here is (and this is my guess) a Policeman pushing a training traffic light towards a school. I have no idea how far he had pushed the light by the time I encountered him, but it was a heavy device, likely one used in many schools in Beijing to teach about the rules of crossing the street. Probably for people and for bicycles.
Traffic lights are rather good objects to think about when thinking about many ideas. They are just lights, after all, but they are objects that save lives, and that anger people, and that give most of us a certain freedom to move around difficult systems like cities.
There is a promise in the function of a traffic light. One needs to trust that a red light will eventually turn green. One needs to trust that a stop sign will eventually turn to walk. And back. And all will happen in a certain rhythm. And it is all for the benefit of all.
Anybody who has been to Beijing lately is probably smiling now. Traffic lights and any kind of automated street guidance is somehow subject to free interpretation. Or at least that's what it seems to be. I have found myself several times looking into the darkened windshield of a black audi, or a Beijing taxi while crossing the street where I should simply be able to without much thought.
On the other hand, I have also found myself running across several lanes of traffic, just because it made more sense at that time.
Some of my favorite places in Beijing will never need traffic lights. Some of the back alleys are so narrow that only one person can pass at a time. This is the city I like to find myself in when the color of the sky is changing from one state to another.
Early in our lives it takes time to understand that the resting period of the night will be followed by day and That learning is all completely confused when that rhythm happens in complete reverse, somewhere in a place that has a very different understanding of so many things.
It is a blessing that such incredible differences are built into the very nature of our planet.
L2004506.jpg
Comments