A Fen River View

Fen River in Taiyuan, Shanxi

A Moment of Blue Skies and Good Air in Beijing

When I see people excitedly mention blue skies in Beijing, I typically have conflicting feelings. On one hand, I feel happy they are enjoying a beautiful sky. On the other hand, I find it regrettable that the moment is so special in part due to air pollution.

But I felt only amazement after existing Beijing's Dongsi Shitiao metro station a couple of weeks ago and seeing a blue sky with clouds that look normal to me though not to everybody in China. Blue skies don't always equal good air quality, but in this case the pollution levels were good according to U.S. standards for both short term and long term exposure. The sky and air were quite a change of pace from the heavy pollution on the day I arrived from Hong Kong and many other days I have experienced in Beijing.

So here are a few photos from a moment which shouldn't have been so remarkable but was.

Umbrellas on a Dull, Rainless Day in Beijing

A scene today at the intersection of Fuchengmen Inner Street and Jinrong Street in Beijing:

The sky wasn't sunny for most of the day and the air pollution was noticeable. Yet I still saw people carrying umbrellas or taking other steps useful for avoiding a tan despite the low chances. I have no new comments to add, so I will simply mention earlier posts about the umbrellas I saw on a rather smoggy day in Changsha, Hunan, and how the desire for whiter skin might be a factor in China's large number of people with vitamin D deficiency.

Riverside Farming in Jieyang

Urban farming along the Rongjiang North River in Jieyang

Four Views of the Chongqing People's Liberation Monument in Jiefangbei

In an earlier post about International Women's Day in China, I mentioned I recognized the location of a photo shared by Xinhua News. One clue in the photo was a portion of the People's Liberation Monument, hard to miss at Jiefangbei Pedestrian Street's central square in Chongqing despite the many much higher structures nearby.

Below are four photos I took of the square on an overcast and smoggy day in January last year. The first photo was taken approximately facing southwest, similar to the Xinhua News photo but farther away from the monument. The following three in order approximately face southeast, northeast, and northwest. A dense commercial district with a wide range of eating and shopping options, including a number of luxury brands, surrounds the square. In the background of the last photo, the Apple Store which opened last year can be seen when the entrance was covered with a tarp before some special art was revealed. Even if food or shopping isn't on your mind, the area is great for people watching as it is frequented by many locals and Chinese tourists who visit Chongqing.

Do Not Disturb in Jieyang

Traffic Jam Jieyang Style

Sixian (思贤) Road in Jieyang, a prefecture-level city neighboring Chaozhou

Two Contemporary Shenzhen Styles

Two photos from the city which borders Hong Kong — Shenzhen:

On Shennan East Road

Portion of an advertisement inside Lilian Sun Plaza, Dongmen

I (and My Laptop) Return

I had not planned on taking off several days from blogging and the online world outside China's Great Firewall. I had also not planned for my laptop to stop functioning in a somewhat suspicious fashion soon after posting about Taiwan's recent presidential election. That's just the tip of an undesired adventure which led to a sudden return to Hong Kong yesterday.

The short story is after arriving in Hong Kong I was able to quickly resolve the problem with my computer, which may have been caused by China in an unexpected manner not tied to any of my recent posts. I hope to share more of the story later. All has mostly returned to what counts as normal, though in some ways the adventure itself was normal. Or at least, it's not the first time I have had to make a mad dash from one city in China to another due to computer woes.

I am currently focused on recalibrating plans and am not yet sure what the next week holds. So for now, here's a recent scene from Zhongshan Park in Xiamen. The city where I was yesterday morning. And a few weeks ago. And maybe again soon.

A more peaceful mobile moment

Xiamen Sunset

Posting will be light as the year closes. In that spirit, a sunset in Xiamen:

A view from halfway up to (or down from) Wulao Peak

Pedestrians on Two Roads in China

I am now far away from the pedestrian street in Shanghai which appeared in the previous post, but China has many pedestrian streets. So here are two happy girls I saw today at Xiamen's Zhongshan Road Pedestrian Street.

Yet Xiamen isn't the city where I took the photo of the earlier mystery scene I shared after departing Shanghai. I left that city this morning on a high-speed train which a regular announcement identified as "Harmony". Fortunately, Harmony didn't present an endlessly repeating promotional video like the train from Shanghai.

Nobody correctly identified the location of the earlier scene, although there were some reasonable guesses. Keeping with the pedestrian street theme, I will share another scene from the city.

As a close examination of the photo will reveal, it isn't exactly a pedestrian street. People on motorbikes often made their way on the narrow roadway past the street vendors and through the crowds. It all seemed to work, perhaps even harmoniously, like many other aspects of life in Ningde.

Ningde and Xiamen both differ significantly from Shanghai. And they differ significantly from each other as well, although they are both on China's southeastern coast in Fujian province. So Fujian flavors are on the way (amongst others), including those found on pedestrian streets.

Two More Shanghai Scenes

I was tempted to included two more photos in the previous post "Twenty Shanghai Scenes Not Featuring Luxury Malls or Skyscrapers", but they didn't quite fit the theme which emerged. So I will share them separately here.

One photo captures a portion of a destination especially popular for tourists and shoppers: the Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street.

The other photo includes tall buildings in the background.

In front of the buildings is a collaborative creation (link in Chinese) by Yu Jiyong (余积勇) and Shen Tingting (沈婷婷): the May Thirtieth Movement Monument in People's Park.

The locations where these photos were taken are just minutes away from each other by foot. And I have stories for both. Another day . . .

Twenty Shanghai Scenes Not Featuring Luxury Malls or Skyscrapers

Despite all of the attention Shanghai receives from the outside world, many aspects of the city's life and environment remain relatively underexposed. As in earlier posts covering areas of Shanghai such as Dachang Town, Xuhui district, and Hongkou, I will share a set of photos to offer a bit more balance. The ones below were taken where my activities brought me in central areas of Shanghai west of the Huangpu River during the past couple of weeks. Like photos of Shanghai's luxury malls and modern skyscrapers, they all capture a part of the city's story.

Small park next to Qinghai Road

Shaanxi North Road

Changping Road

Facing away from an entrance to the underground Hong Kong Shopping Centre

Fengxian Road

Lane south of Nanjing West Road

Lane north of Tianshan Road

Sweet potatoes for sale at intersection of Shaanxi North Road and Xinhui Road

A small bear

Construction site next to Puji Road and Guangfu Road

Hongxin Fashion Plaza

Wujiang Road Pedestrian Street

Qipu Road next to the Shanghai Xingwang International Finery City

In front of a shop at the Xingwang International Finery City

Shanghai Railway Station

Crossing Huashan Road

Window at a wine bar & bistro on Jiaozhou Road

Restaurants on Shaanxi North Road just south of Xinhui Road

In front of the Tianshan Commercial Building

Julu Road

Out of Shanghai Again

A view out the window during my train ride yesterday

Early yesterday morning in Shanghai, I boarded yet another high-speed train. As expected, the long trip on a rail line I've traveled many times provided numerous scenes of nature, small towns, and construction projects — sometimes together and often immersed in smog. As not expected, during the entire trip a short video promoting a recent international fashion week in Xiamen played repeatedly with melodramatic music for all to hear. In case you didn't know, you can play golf in Xiamen too.

After I disembarked, the train sped away continuing its mission of informing riders about the Xiamen Fashion Week. I traveled away less slowly from the train station in a vehicle which felt no need to do so. Soon I was walking about a city I had never visited before and happy to stumble upon an old narrow street full of life. The street abruptly ended at a construction site, next to which stands a temple where I accepted a loquat from a Buddhist nun. My appetite stimulated, I headed back to a place which appeared promising for local-style fish balls. It did not disappoint.

The air quality is not as glorious as hoped, but it is currently better than Shanghai's. It's warmer here too. During the next few days I plan to get caught up on some work, while also taking advantage of the opportunity to learn about another city in China. Ideally those two goals wouldn't conflict very much.

I plan to finish at least one other post before further mention of my current location. So in the meantime, I am curious to know whether any readers can identify the city based on the clues above, the photo I took early this evening in a busy shopping district which appears below, and the bonus clue underneath it. Best guesses are welcome. I will be sure to praise the person with the first correct answer. Or if they prefer not to be publicly identified, the next order of fish balls are on me.

Bonus clue: This water isn't represented on Google's online map but it does appear on Baidu's map

Love Station Fashion

Clothing store in Shaoyang, Hunan

Scenes at Wuya Lane in Shaoguan, Guangdong

As described when featuring the Nostalgia Book Room and Wuya Lane Old Book Room, Wuya Lane (吾牙巷) in Shaoguan, Guangdong, is "home to a variety of establishments including places selling & buying old currency and other collector's items, a restaurant specializing in donkey meat, inexpensive hair salons, and 'hair salons' which appear to offer services far more intimate than a haircut". The photos below were taken over several different days at the lane which runs between Wenhua Street and Fuxing Road. The people who use the lane are no less diverse than the establishments which line it.