Guangzhou metro. Soooo user friendly.
the canal seperating China from what was once European territory, Shamian Island. One of the Opium War concessions.
Colonial buiding. They've been turned into one room aparments with lofts built in to utilize the high ceilings.
It turns out that Shamian Island has a US Consulate and is one of the main locations for foreign adoption. It's filled with American couples adopting baby girls.
OH MY GOD!!! A Starbucks with charm and character. I didn't know that it was possible.
Starbucks interior. The airconditioner is blasting and the fireplace is lit. Wonderful.
The counterfeit bill checker. Everyone says that counterfeit money is not a problem, but every business has one of these. I was caught passing a fake 20. Cool!
That would be an American man holding his new daughter outside of a store selling baby related souvenirs to the freespending new parents. To the left of the dad and daughter, there is a Chinese woman walking with her son.
punk is universal. also, the woman giving him directions is hoping to give birth in the year of the golden pig. apparently, a lot of couples waited to get pregnant so that their offspring could have a more fortuitous birth year.
some construction work on the tree.
the bridal photo thing seems to be catching on in the south of china. shamian is considered very romantic, so there were brides there every day.
happy little girls enjoying their perch on the backs of those boys.
Shamian is also a popular location for fashion shoots.
The statue of the woman leading the children is very pied piper-ish to me, especially when in the background is an American family (mom, dad and uncle scott) with their two chinese daughters and peruvian son.
i love the hair.
street food, including more snails.
these trees took the concept of reaching for the light very seriously.
monk who caught me taking his picture in the vegetarian restaurant. whoops!
one of the exits from the metro. great idea, the exits are lettered. this station had many exits, so it was A through I. There are signs all over the station telling you what can be found outside of each exit.
promenade along the pearl river.
of course I went on another river cruise! what else does one do in a river-side city?
the city lights up at night.
the ccp's area of town. some really nice houses that would not look out of place on the marina in san francisco.
even the sides of buildings are excited about the olympics.
do we offer advertising on the side of buildings in the states?
Shamian Island at night.
a bridge that changes colors!
all restaurants and bars have ladies in evening dress outside of their establishment.
guy resting on the ferry.
ingenious woman who not only figured out how to use her bike as a pickup truck, but also, how to create a nice sunshade overhang.
two couples playing mah jong.
another couple with a new daughter. have you noticed that they are always daughters? it's hard to argue with a practice that makes so many people so happy, but the whole system of China selling its baby girls to Americans is a little off.
vendor selling tiger paws and other animal products. i bought a carved tooth.
at the herbal medicine building in Qingping market. i wonder what dried snake will cure?
woman with turtle shells and a bouncing grandson.
dried roaches. yum.
very nice looking mushrooms.
the frizzed hair is considered the apex of style.
a little homegrown sweatshop.
i was disturbed to find only chicken and fish actually being sold live. not a kitten or a puppy in sight. i was prepared to be sick and disgusted by pets being sold as meat. instead, i saw a bunch of chickens. foiled!
a cat! but he doesn't seem to be in danger of the chopping block.
this kitten looks safe, too. unless they are free range?
well, this dog seems to be eating himself. getting warmer!
dried meat strips. i have no clue what type of meat, so maybe this is something revolting. i didn't ask.
bird's nests.
men going through the dried seahorses, looking for the best ones.
a healthy diet should really include the odd handful of dried beetles.
the purveyor of beetles and other insects.
outside of one of the herb markets. i never did find any puppies for sale as soup stock. i don't know if they were hidden away in some corner of the market or if that section has been moved. i was relieved and disappointed at the same time.
one of the building complexes on shamian island. i'd love to find a photo of how this looked before china recovered the island from great britain.
one of the more interesting shade trees. roots are wasted under ground.
site of yet another foot massage.
take my advice, stick to the foot massage! the body massage is weird. there were fingers in my ears!
badminton is a craze in guangzhou. people are playing everywhere. hacky sack and waltzing are also popular, but badminton is the winner.
transfering produce to the bicycle, using the sniff test.
getting the dried fruit and nuts to market.
is she looking for something?
no, she's exercising!
the local gym. 7am. this is a public stretch along the river.
the exercise bike.
grunt, effort!
lady on the ski machine having a blast
couple out for their morning swing.
weeeee!
the treadmill
try flipping back and forth to see her walk!
i love these low tech exercise stations. how much would it cost the taxpayers to set a few of these up in san francisco? would people use them?
and a one.
and a two
a man who found his own corner to practice his kata in.
garbage boat cleaning up the river.
as you can see, a little clean up is a good idea.
feel the burn
all of this is going on just steps from the river along a little park area across from Baeitan Bar Street.
the older gentleman is the master and this is his student.
when they move, there are the normal variations in form.
i don't know much about tai chi. i only know that the master was a joy to watch, whereas his student was a bit boring.
he was perfectly balanced the whole time.
very very cool. i watched them for quite awhile.
a smoke break after the morning workout.
push ups.
just hanging out. (yes, i know that's a bad pun, i couldn't help myself)
working hard.
this is for arm exercise. it spins.
the emphasis on physical fitness is my favorite thing about China. It's so lovely to see the people out exercising in the mornings and evenings.
the massage chair.
extend
retract. of course i joined in!
dancing, dancing in the street
this is an invitation
across the nation
a chance for folks to meet
There'll be laughin' and singin' and music swingin'
and dancing in the streets
that would be a froggy, cleverly hidden in front of the back tire.
woman collecting paper for recycling. She straightens out each page and folds it into a pile.
fish being transported. they were flopping around in there!
The Chen Clan Confucian Academy and Folkart Museum.
The ancestral temple for the entire Chen clan.
The roof has wonderful wood carvings detailing family and administrative scenes.
two gods of the door coming up. what a great story. it's interesting that whereas Europe came up with gargoyles to scare away demons, China has the red and black faced generals.
the red faced general
and the black faced general
the first courtyard of the complex
the colors are faded, but it's still beautiful
one of the scenes. they seem to know that I'm taking their picture. they do not approve.
ming pottery
my favorite. using both red and blue underglaze.
very proper care for one's elders.
carved ivory. a traditional art of guangdong province. they were devastated by the 1989 CITES ban on the trade in ivory.
close up of the ship.
gorgeous
this is how you carve a ball within a ball within a ball, etc.
a lantern!
courtyard
footprint of one of the five fairies riding flying goats that descended to earth at the site of present-day Guangzhou to bring the starving peasants rice. this is one of the strangest origin stories i have ever heard. flying goats?
statue at the Taoist shrine erected to celebrate the blessed event, Wuxianguan - the Temple of the Five Celestial Beings (and their flying goats)
they had some incredible bonsai at the shrine
bell tower that predates the temple.
what's that up in the rafter? is it a pigeon or a bat?
just a sleeping cat
Inside the Buddhist Temple of the Six Banyan Trees - dating to 537 CE.
base of the flowery pagoda.
and there's the rest of it.
From left: the Amitabha, Sakyamuni, and the Apothecary Buddha. They represent past, present and future.
i found the apothecary buddha the most appealing.
there was an area to the right and back of the main temple complex that seemed slightly different. More feminine. My guess is that this is an area for women to come burn their joss sticks, but there wasn't anything in English to tell me what this area is.
I find this representation of the female figure to be slightly disturbing.
just an apartment complex on temple street.
a small street between the two buddhist temples
doesn't everyone have a couple photos of the great chairman to put up with their wedding pic?
man getting his shoe repaired on the spot by a cobbler who just happens to be a double amputee.
I had to take this because this store is exactly the same as about 10 stores on irving street between 20th and 26th. wild.
a serious badminton game in progress.
spraying insecticide
Baeitan Bar Street on a Saturday night. It's actually a major dud. All of the clubs are empty or have a few straggling customers. It looks exciting from across the river though!
on a US Olympic sign, you'd have a gymnast and a swimmer maybe. In China, the stars are the gymnast and...the pingpong player. masters of table tennis. on the sports channel, you are much more likely to see a pingpong match than a soccer game.
pyjamas with heels. interesting fashion statement.
the ferry that i took a few times a day.
caught!
the arm exerciser with chinese characteristics
hanging and swinging
don't let go!
swinging
the hip rubber
if you flip back and forth between this and the previous pic, you can see the motion
the foot massage pebble path.
i've been trying to get a picture of someone spitting for ages. i've even sat strategically located on a bench waiting for someone to spit near me. i give up. here is a culprit.
and here is her product.
woman taking a picture of her hubby. what is it for? to send to their son who's working in shanghai? because they've always dreamed of coming to guangzhou? what's their story?
a barge, from the farry
guy out for his morning swim
ack! seniors with swords! the aarp is running amok!
more hacky sack
another adoptive family
fan dancers
flat tire on the freeway on my way to the airport
luckily, he had a spare.
the guangzhou airport knows its audience. with so many american families around, in airport transit is very important.
