China in a Nutshell
March 8-14, 2018
There’s no nut large enough for the most populous nation on earth (1.415 billion.) Even though I visited only 4 cities, I can’t find a nut to fit.
Tourist brochure visions of the Great Wall and the Forbidden City hadn’t prepared me for the burgeoning metropolis of Shanghai (the most populous city on earth, at 24 million — Mumbai has 23mm) or the sheer charm of the canal-side homes in Suzhou (population figures range from 6 to 10 million). Though ‘charm’ is not the right word since it conjures up little English villages, which this is not. But both were a photographer’s dream and it’s very hard to pare down my shots.
Then there’s the international amalgam of Hong Kong (7.4 million) and the relatively small Haikou (population 2+ million).
Remember when we were kids and, if you turned over some plate or toy and saw ‘Made in China’ stamped on the bottom,you thought ‘WOW! All the way from China. Where's China?’ Now I have the same reaction when I see something ‘Made in Vietnam.’ I’m not impressed by the distance that item traveled, but the fact that a country I had only thought of in the context of the Vietnam War is now supplying goods to western markets. By the way: In Vietnam, it’s referred to it as the ‘American War.’ Which reminds me of a road trip David and I took 20+ years ago. In a B&B on Tilghman Island in Maryland, a group of guests were talking about local history and one of them mentioned ‘that recent unpleasantness.’ She was referring to the American Civil War.
Shanghai, the ‘Paris of the East’
(Above) Two views of what little is left of old Shanghai...
Shanghai in transition... they have torn down most of the buildings from the past few hundred years, all replaced by skyscrapers.
Shanghai, 2018...
Self-portrait, on the way home from the Sun christening shindig. She was christened in China because Viking is heavily backed by yuan. Her ‘godmother’ is a Chinese financière.
Suzhou
She toodled by just before we embarked on our narrow boats.
That quintessential Chinese image — budding willows. Suzhou’s Grand Canal was completed in 605.
The mop and broom series...
A hanging garden...
As I said before, it must have been National Wash Your Comforter Day... the canal ways were positively festooned.
Outside the silk embroidery workshop we visited after the boat ride... before we dropped in at the Humble Apprentice’s Garden...
Hong Kong, the ‘Switzerland of Asia’
Arrival in port just after sunrise.
Hustle and bustle of downtown Hong Kong, You’re looking at a large stack of bamboo waiting to be constructed (or just deconstructed) as scaffolding at a building site.
Incense spirals in the Man Mo Temple, dedicated to the gods of Literature (Man) and War (Mo).
Lunch hour, in basic black.
Haikou, on the island of Hainan
Street scenes... note the Portuguese and French architectural style, with Indian and Arab embellishments.
Prayers hanging on a tree in a temple courtyard...
Inside that temple...
The least depressing of my ‘pet shop’ photos. #
ORIGINAL POSTS
https://wordwrite.wixsite.com/passepartoutparttwo/single-post/2018/03/10/Shanghai-The-Paris-of-the-East
https://wordwrite.wixsite.com/passepartoutparttwo/single-post/2018/03/12/Suzhou-Old-China-By-Boat
https://wordwrite.wixsite.com/passepartoutparttwo/single-post/2018/03/15/Hong-Kong-Part-One
https://wordwrite.wixsite.com/passepartoutparttwo/single-post/2018/03/15/Hong-Kong-Part-Two
https://wordwrite.wixsite.com/passepartoutparttwo/single-post/2018/03/16/Haikou-Not-a-Japanese-Poem
