Before I get to the last installment of photo descriptions, I have some news: we have a cleaning lady.
It's weird. It's inexpensive. It's gaudy. It's fabulous.
As odd as it felt to have someone sloshing through my house with a bucket and 3 rags, it felt nice to have some time to relax with HD without thinking about how late I'd be up cleaning that night. This city is just too damn dirty. We're used to Portland, our lovely clean-every-2-weeks-and-you're-good city. But here - 3 to 4 days and your house needs an overhaul. It's impossible to keep up with, what with 2 kids we like to hand with, grad school (not me this time!), never-ending planning, cooking, laundry, etc., etc.
So there it is. A cleaning lady. Once a week. Cool.
And now for the moment you've not been waiting for...more photos! I'm going to keep it short(er). In case you have yet to open the photos in another window, here's where they are.
Last time, I left off discussing Christmas lights, and Christmas lights they have. Though here, I would rather call them winter decorations. They are up from December through February, for Chinese New Year. Though, many more are usually added in the weeks leading up to the New Year. The picture here with the trees shows the extent to which things are decorated. It's not uncommon to happen upon entire courtyards filled with trees like these.
Speaking of trees, those are trees in the truck, and in the next shot, trees being put in with the help of a crane. I've been told that the trees are sold by landowners to middle men. The middle men sell to the government. The government "plants" them, attaches an IV of nutrients, and replaces it 2-5 years later when it dies. Nice cycle. I'd love to go into detail about how this is so wrong, but I promised short. Maybe another time.
Everything is carried on shoulders or backs, except children, who are just carried in arms.
A Chongqing street sweeper. Though unconfirmed, my colleagues and I hypothesize that the large number of people here sweeping roads and sidewalks is a way to employ the 10 million people who have moved here in the past decade. With all the resettlement from the Three Gorges Dam(n), Chongqing suddenly had millions of farmers in a city with no jobs or skills. Thus, street sweepers. I must say, they are good. We traveled to Chengdu, another Southwestern town, and PB falling to her knees caused 5 pants changes in 2 days. Street sweepers? Nope.
Hot pot, the local delicacy. A bubbling bowl of broth, oil, chili oil, and sichuan peppercorns, with meats and veggies for dipping. It's the Sichuan fondue. Pull out your steaming lotus root (picture 2), dip in sesame oil with soy sauce and garlic, and enjoy with beer. I could eat this every day.
China toilets are horrible, disgusting, porcelain holes in the ground. We fondly refer to them as squat pots. I loathe these things. This one was at the restaurant where we had hot pot. It was a bonus having the red rubber mat, however. It minimize the slip-factor from the spray.
The last few photos are from a park near our house with an unmoving lake, complete with floating trash. There is an obelisk resembling the Washington monument at end, and a partial Roman amphitheatre at the other. In between, lots and lots of bird poop.
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There it is - mountains of words to follow a simple photo essay. Thanks for sticking around.
Showing posts with label Chongqing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chongqing. Show all posts
1.25.2011
Photo descriptions, part 2
I just realized how many photos need describing in two more posts. Oye.
Okay. Part 2 of putting words to these.
Let's begin with the yellow scaffolding. That was also early into our adventure here. There seems to be less scaffolding around to walk under, though it still surrounds every other building in town. In this photo, the guy nailing something into the 'ceiling' is not standing on a ladder. No, that is too sensible. He is standing on a saw horse, and a tall one at that. We have marveled at the attire of the construction workers here, especially footwear - regular canvas shoes. Though seeing what they must balance on while working, well, I'd rather be in canvas shoes than thick soled boots too.
Since I'm on the topic of construction, in China, the equality of the sexes extends to jobs typically held by men in the States. You see women digging ditches, hauling, well, anything, and chiseling concrete off of rebar right next to her male coworker. I sway between pride in seeing women do hard labor here, and sadness in that they do the hard labor because it's the available job. I'm fortunate to be in a position to choose my type of employment. Man, those women are tough.
Longfor is the development and management company that built, and runs, our compound (neighborhood). We have a nice green space in the middle with some huge rocks good for jumping off of, and a porch swing for enjoying the sights. As you approach the grassy area, the blue sign in the picture is shown. I love the graphics: no bikes + no scooters + no dogs + no soccer = no fun. Admire please, do not play. I should have it translated soon. I really want to know what message requires an exclamation mark.
Next down is one of my favorite hubby-taken photos ever. These are two of the groundskeepers at a large "Sports Park" near us. The emotion on their faces is extreme around these parts. I love it.
After the park: the view from below.
In the hazy picture of buildings half-built are 8 cranes. These are HUGE cranes. Each new building gets its own crane (sometimes two in the beginning stages). The crane stays with it till the end, growing with the structure until no longer needed. I have never seen so many cranes in my life. And here, also, is the ever-present scaffolding I mentioned earlier. The scaffolding on the buildings is wrapped in green mesh plastic.
But back to the cranes, some days on my way to work I try to count the cranes from the highway. Our school is in an area being developed for research and IT firms and they're building like crazy. One day I counted 31 cranes in about a mile stretch of road. That's 31 buildings! More recently, the number has grown to over 50 and we drive too fast for me to count them all. 50+. High rises. It blows my mind.
Two more pictures down is yet another scaffolded building. I know, you get it. But this one is notable for what the men on the scaffolding are doing: passing granite slabs from one to another up the scaffolding to put on the side of the building. Take a look at the size of those pieces - almost as tall as the men! That's what we use cranes for in the States. It really is 'hard' labor.
Santa has made it to China and is everywhere. However, the face of Santa is pretty much what you see in what hubby calls, "Demon Santa". This is the spray painted version of good 'ole Saint Nick. He also exists in paper, small, medium, or large. He shines. He sparkles. And he's up through February. It's like the annoying neighbor who keeps the Christmas lights until Easter (sorry to all the lights lovers who keep their Christmas lights until Easter).
One more?
Too tired. I'll pick up at the tree lights next time.
Part 3 coming soon...
Okay. Part 2 of putting words to these.
Let's begin with the yellow scaffolding. That was also early into our adventure here. There seems to be less scaffolding around to walk under, though it still surrounds every other building in town. In this photo, the guy nailing something into the 'ceiling' is not standing on a ladder. No, that is too sensible. He is standing on a saw horse, and a tall one at that. We have marveled at the attire of the construction workers here, especially footwear - regular canvas shoes. Though seeing what they must balance on while working, well, I'd rather be in canvas shoes than thick soled boots too.
Since I'm on the topic of construction, in China, the equality of the sexes extends to jobs typically held by men in the States. You see women digging ditches, hauling, well, anything, and chiseling concrete off of rebar right next to her male coworker. I sway between pride in seeing women do hard labor here, and sadness in that they do the hard labor because it's the available job. I'm fortunate to be in a position to choose my type of employment. Man, those women are tough.
Longfor is the development and management company that built, and runs, our compound (neighborhood). We have a nice green space in the middle with some huge rocks good for jumping off of, and a porch swing for enjoying the sights. As you approach the grassy area, the blue sign in the picture is shown. I love the graphics: no bikes + no scooters + no dogs + no soccer = no fun. Admire please, do not play. I should have it translated soon. I really want to know what message requires an exclamation mark.
Next down is one of my favorite hubby-taken photos ever. These are two of the groundskeepers at a large "Sports Park" near us. The emotion on their faces is extreme around these parts. I love it.
After the park: the view from below.
In the hazy picture of buildings half-built are 8 cranes. These are HUGE cranes. Each new building gets its own crane (sometimes two in the beginning stages). The crane stays with it till the end, growing with the structure until no longer needed. I have never seen so many cranes in my life. And here, also, is the ever-present scaffolding I mentioned earlier. The scaffolding on the buildings is wrapped in green mesh plastic.
But back to the cranes, some days on my way to work I try to count the cranes from the highway. Our school is in an area being developed for research and IT firms and they're building like crazy. One day I counted 31 cranes in about a mile stretch of road. That's 31 buildings! More recently, the number has grown to over 50 and we drive too fast for me to count them all. 50+. High rises. It blows my mind.
Two more pictures down is yet another scaffolded building. I know, you get it. But this one is notable for what the men on the scaffolding are doing: passing granite slabs from one to another up the scaffolding to put on the side of the building. Take a look at the size of those pieces - almost as tall as the men! That's what we use cranes for in the States. It really is 'hard' labor.
Santa has made it to China and is everywhere. However, the face of Santa is pretty much what you see in what hubby calls, "Demon Santa". This is the spray painted version of good 'ole Saint Nick. He also exists in paper, small, medium, or large. He shines. He sparkles. And he's up through February. It's like the annoying neighbor who keeps the Christmas lights until Easter (sorry to all the lights lovers who keep their Christmas lights until Easter).
One more?
Too tired. I'll pick up at the tree lights next time.
Part 3 coming soon...
1.24.2011
Photo descriptions, part 1
I have found something to write about - all those pictures I just posted! (see previous post) I find pictures much more exciting when the background information is with them. Instead, I'm going to make you look back and forth a bit. Sorry, but some of the stories are worth it.
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The first picture was taken just a few days after we arrived in Chongqing. The girls and I are sitting in the fabulously huge window seat in their bedroom. As you can see, there is a splendid view of the apartments next door which are housed above our grocery store. I forgot they were that colorful. Colors tend to fade here pretty fast.
Next, also taken in those first days, shows another view from 11 floors above the city, this time looking out over 龙湖 (Dragon Lake). Behind the orange-ish buildings is the lake. Our building is considered old for Chongqing (15 years!), with the average life-expectancy of buildings hovering around 20 years. What is crazy about this view, however, is the knowledge that nothing across the lake existed 10 years ago. It was beautiful green forest and farms. That's what adding 10 million people in 10 years does to a place.
The motorcycle picture is notable for two reasons: the number of people on it, and the helmet resting between the legs of the driver. It is very common to see more than 2 people aboard a bike. Many riders work as taxis, though I haven't found out how much they charge yet. The most striking sight, though, is a passenger with a baby. They will have one arm on the driver, the other holding a baby. And I mean little babies. Kids too.
And even though the refusal to wear the extra helmet in this picture rankles me, many people do wear helmets. I have been informed that this is a new development in Chongqing, with helmets seen only in the last year or so.
To end part 1, I would like to draw your attention to the 6th picture down. This seeming random destruction is random, and very much, destruction. Many structures are labeled with the 'demolish' mark (拆), but they may be torn down while others around them stand firm. New developments are evidenced by long rows of buildings branded 拆. But as in this photo, sometimes it's as I said, random.
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The first picture was taken just a few days after we arrived in Chongqing. The girls and I are sitting in the fabulously huge window seat in their bedroom. As you can see, there is a splendid view of the apartments next door which are housed above our grocery store. I forgot they were that colorful. Colors tend to fade here pretty fast.
Next, also taken in those first days, shows another view from 11 floors above the city, this time looking out over 龙湖 (Dragon Lake). Behind the orange-ish buildings is the lake. Our building is considered old for Chongqing (15 years!), with the average life-expectancy of buildings hovering around 20 years. What is crazy about this view, however, is the knowledge that nothing across the lake existed 10 years ago. It was beautiful green forest and farms. That's what adding 10 million people in 10 years does to a place.
The motorcycle picture is notable for two reasons: the number of people on it, and the helmet resting between the legs of the driver. It is very common to see more than 2 people aboard a bike. Many riders work as taxis, though I haven't found out how much they charge yet. The most striking sight, though, is a passenger with a baby. They will have one arm on the driver, the other holding a baby. And I mean little babies. Kids too.
And even though the refusal to wear the extra helmet in this picture rankles me, many people do wear helmets. I have been informed that this is a new development in Chongqing, with helmets seen only in the last year or so.
To end part 1, I would like to draw your attention to the 6th picture down. This seeming random destruction is random, and very much, destruction. Many structures are labeled with the 'demolish' mark (拆), but they may be torn down while others around them stand firm. New developments are evidenced by long rows of buildings branded 拆. But as in this photo, sometimes it's as I said, random.
1.22.2011
Chongqing photo essay
I just realized I have put few pictures of this crazy place on here. So rather than bore you with my banter today, please enjoy Chongqing, in all its splendor!
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