Eighteen Scenes from Historical Jiefang Road in Yunfu

Many of the buildings which line Jiefang Road as it winds it way through central Yunfu are indicative of some of the city's history. In nearby cities such as Zhongshan and Jiangmen, a few similar historical roads have in part been turned into popular pedestrian streets. Yunfu doesn't appear to have any such grandiose plans at the moment, though the city government has proposed renovations to this "living fossil" (reference in Chinese).

The series of photos below capture scenes beginning on Jiefang East Road, moving westward to Jiefang Middle Road which passes by Martyr's Park, and then onto Jiefang West Road towards the road's end near Pingfeng Hill, which appears in two of the photos. Many of the scenes include buildings with historical architecture. And many capture some of the life at the old street on two recent weekday afternoons.


Jiefang East Road (解放东路)

Jiefang Middle Road (解放中路)

Jiefang West Road (解放西路)

Two Urban Views of Pingfeng Hill in Yunfu

The previous post featured a view from Qilin Hill in Yunfu with Pingfeng Hill visible in the distance. For today's dose of urban karst topography, I will share two photos of Pingfeng Hill taken from a much closer vantage point. As a bonus, the second photo includes a water truck watering things.

This is also an opportunity to correct a mistake. I previously identified this fine example of karst topography as Bingfeng Hill. However, I now believe its proper name is Pingfeng Hill.

The first Chinese character in the hill's name, 屏, can be read as either "bing" or "ping" in Mandarin Chinese, and those two pronunciations have distinctly different meanings. It's one of the many homographs in Chinese language.

Today, as I looked for photos of Pingfeng Hill I noticed I had taken a photo of sign for a street which runs along the hill's south side. The street uses the hill for its name, and the sign went with Pingfeng.

Additionally, given their respective meanings, "ping" seems more fitting than "bing".

So Pingfeng Hill it is. Enjoy the views.

An Urban & Karsty View from the Top of Qilin Hill in Yunfu

The Revolutionary Martyrs Monument at Yunfu's Martyrs Park stands about halfway up Qilin Hill (麒麟山), also known as Shilin Hill (石麟山).* The top of the hill affords a view of some of the urban environment surrounding the park as well as an example of Yunfu's karst topography.

Pingfeng Hill (屏峰山) can be seen in the left half of the photo. To its right slightly farther in the distance are apartment buildings under construction. The relative locations of Qilin Hill and Bingfeng hill can be seen in this satellite view taken from Baidu Maps:

The Martyr's Park, including its lake, is in the upper right. Pingfeng Hill is the green area in the lower left. The newer apartment buildings are to the left (west) of it. Oddly, Baidu's label for Bingfeng Hill is misplaced slightly to its west. The label for the Revolutionary Martyrs Memorial Hall is perfectly placed though.

Later, I will share some street-level scenes from a road with some historical architecture that nearly connects these two hills.




*Reference in Chinese here.

Updated April 27, 2018, to correct Pingfeng Hill's name in Pinyin.

Another View from a Window in Yunfu

Good news. We have a winner for the latest "name this city in China" post.

Yunfu or Qingyuan？

— Urban Xia Wei (@Urban_XiaWei) April 17, 2018

Indeed, the scene which includes Xingyun East Road (兴云东路) is from Yunfu (云浮), a prefecture-level city in western Guangdong province. Yunfu borders the prefecture-level city Jiangmen, my previous location. Despite the shared border of the two cities, my bus ride, which lasted slightly less than two hours, followed a route which cuts through Zhaoqing, another prefecture-level city in Guangdong, presumably because it is shorter / faster than highway routes which don't enter Zhaoqing. In addition to Jiangmen and Zhaoqing, Yunfu is also bordered by the Guangdong prefecture-level cities Foshan, Maoming, and Yangjiang and by the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region prefecture-level city Wuzhou.

I had considered sharing another photo taken from my room window that in addition to an urban setting amidst karst topography also included a portion of the Yunfu Intercity Bus Station. I decided against it, though, after noticing Yunfu's name in Chinese could be seen on one of the signs near the bottom. So here it is now:

Almost all of the people in Yunfu who have questioned me about why I came here responded with comments like "There's nothing interesting in Yunfu." and "Yunfu isn't a pretty city." However, I have already come across much that either interested me or I found visually attractive. More about some of that later.

From Jiangmen to Elsewhere

Today I was going to take an early morning intercity bus. But it was raining and my stomach felt unsettled so . . .

Today I took an early afternoon intercity bus. It was warm and humid inside at first. At my seat towards the back of the bus, I considered shouting my feelings to the driver, who was loudly playing radio music for us all to hear. But I saw a better hope — a man who was both much closer to the driver and fiddling with the air conditioning vents above him.

The man, such a wise man, kindly suggested to the driver that air conditioning would be grand. He exquisitely expressed this in a way so that all were able to laugh it off without much loss of face. Well done, sir.

At the end of the bus ride, I did something I don't usually get to do. I left the bus station and walked directly across the street to a hotel. It was sufficient, convenient, and well located for my purposes. And as a bonus, cheap.

The kind receptionist at the hotel checked me in. After signing a receipt, I pointed out that both my name and passport number had been entered into their computer incorrectly. Small details it seems.

No matter, they gave me a room with a fine view. And I mean that. I didn't know this was in store:

Urban landscape with karst topography? Overcast skies or not, sign me up.

Some readers may be thinking "Guilin?"

Nope. Guilin isn't the only place where one can find such joys. So, it's time to play "Guess this city" again. This is one I would have likely failed before today. I could have even gotten the province wrong. You have some time to figure this out. I will return, I think, to a few Jiangmen-related posts before the big reveal.

The temperature on the bus was perfect the rest of the way.



Update: The answer is here.

Scenes from Two Sections of Baisha Road in Jiangmen

One section of Baisha Road (白沙路) in Jiangmen has a much older feel than other sections. Below are four photos capturing a bit of the life on that stretch this afternoon. For a contrast, the fifth photo captures another section of Baisha Road.

Some people may question whether this is all really Baisha Road. A later post will highlight some of the apparent disagreement on that issue.

A Few Scenes from Gudesi Road in Wuhan

Unlike Qingfen Road in Wuhan, Gudesi Road (古德寺路) is labeled on both Google Maps and Baidu Map. However, both maps are missing sections of the street and Baidu Map mistakenly labels a connecting street with the name. In any case, there aren't as many shops on Gudesi Road as there are on Qingfen Road, but plenty of life can still be found there.

And if you are lucky, you may meet a rather friendly dog.

While Gudesi Road wouldn't seem remarkable to most people in China, the temple it is named after is another story. More about that later.

Five Scenes From Qingfen Road in Wuhan

Qingfen Road (清芬路) in Wuhan doesn't appear on Baidu's or Google's online maps, but it definitely exists. A few scenes from a street densely packed with life:

Still There in Changsha: Yanjiatang Lane

Shortly after I took the above photo, a man approached me and asked what I was photographing. I answered, "This road!"

Feeling he might still have concerns about my intentions, I added "It feels comfortable."

He smiled, and that was that.

Yanjiatang Lane (晏家塘巷) was one of the areas that I wouldn't have been surprised to have found greatly transformed during this most recent return to Changsha, but most seemed basically the same as I remembered. However, there were signs, specifically the red circled "征" character I have seen previously in other soon-to-be-demolished neighborhoods in Changsha, that this will be the last time I see the lane as I did today.

Another time, I will share scenes from the street with the same name from which this lane directly extends and other nearby streets where the demolishing is already far more advanced. For today, below are some more scenes from comfortable Yanjiatang Lane.

Clouds Over Zhongshan

Yesterday's clouds in Zhongshan caught my eye. Today for the same reason more did. So on this second day of the National Day Holiday period in China, below are eight photos of clouds which also capture a bit of life in Zhongshan and the variety of architecture there.