Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, October 13 – When I first saw these natural grass brooms, I thought they were quite crude looking, but, after watching them being put to use, I’ve changed my mind. The workers where we live and all around Songshan Lake use these for sweeping the walkways outside and they do a great job! The workers within our housing all have carts that they push around with their tools and the workers along the lake ride their bicycles and have the brooms stick out the back as they ride, but they all use these natural brooms. I wouldn’t be surprised if they even work better than the “fancy” modern ones!
Moon Gate
Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, October 11 – Moon gates are very old elements used in Chinese architecture and gardens. They can be indoor or outdoor and serve as a connection or transition between two places. Sometimes you actually have to step over a threshold, which adds even more emphasis to the concept of entering a new place. The full moon is “worshipped” in China, and considered a symbol of happiness. The moon gate represents the full moon rising and is therefore very inviting for people to pass through. Today we visited the Lingnan Museum of Fine Art and Keyuan Park and this moon gate was in a garden area between the two. We had planned to visit Keyuan Garden, a very well-known garden in Guangdong Province, but it was closed today :-( We will have to go back! I’m sure they have more moon gates in the garden!
Outdoor Gyms
Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, October 2 – Free outdoor gyms, Open-air gyms or adult playgrounds, can be found in many Chinese housing areas and parks. The following is info I found online, I don’t know if it’s fully accurate, but …. in 1995 a “Physical Health Law" was passed in China to encourage people to participate in a fitness Program. Then, there was supposedly a big campaign before the 2008 summer Olympics where the government installed a large amount of outdoor gym equipment to continue to encourage people to be more active. These gyms are quite well used, mainly in mornings and evenings, you can see people of all ages and abilities exercising. I’ve never counted how many gym areas there are where we live, but I know of 4 fully outdoor areas, and there are at least a couple more that are outdoor, but under roofs on the ground floor of some buildings. One of the fully outdoor ones is right next to some children’s playground equipment in a fenced in area. It seems this idea is also popular in Australia, the UK, and is starting to catch on in the USA and some other countries. The pictures are of the outdoor gym closest to us, we have to walk around it when we go to walk by Songshan Lake, so we often stop and “play!” :-)
Rocks in Chinese Gardens
Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, September 28 – The neccessary elements of a Chinese garden are: water, architecture, plants, and rocks. Often walls and winding paths are also included. Different types of rocks serve different purposes, but one of the most treasured types of rocks are unique limestone formations. The most famous gardens have rocks from a place called Tai Lake (Taihu), which is near Suzhou, where there are many famous classical gardens. This picture shows a limestone rock formation near the Lotus Pavilion in Songshan Lake. It looks like the Taihu rocks I’ve seen in Suzhou, but I really don’t know, I’m no rock expert! I included Leah in the picture so you could see the size of the rock. Rock formations like these are actually considered to be “sculptures.” There are also many smaller rocks of different kinds around the park, and also, all of the much smaller ones that make up the footpaths I posted a picture of back in May. It seems rocks in Chinese gardens are basically equivalent to flower plantings in Western gardens. We also have a specific Rock Garden near us. Here is a 5 minute video about a replica of a Classical Chinese garden in New York City. It tells a lot about the meaning of rocks in Chinese gardens. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ttb2UtMUbIU
Civility Signs
Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, September 19 – The Chinese government continues to try to improve the image of the general Chinese population. There are civility and patriotic signs in most public places where we go: along the streets, at bus stops and on buses, at metro stations and on the metros, in parks, and also sometimes in businesses also. Most just have words: prosperous and strong, democracy, civil, harmonious, freedom, equality, fair, patriotic, dedication to your work, honesty, friendliness, etc. There is so much I could write about this, but I’m just going to keep it simple!
The pictures and approximate translations (if different from the basic words above) are : Top – Large sign at the park, Left middle – Placard on table at restaurant – (Don’t leave food, you are encouraged to not order excessive amounts and to take leftovers with you), Right Middle – Large sign in parking area, (Sunflower towards the sun, Communist Party toward the People) Left bottom – Large sign on building, Center bottom – Monitor on bus – (Country is Family), Right bottom – Banners along the Songshan Lake walkway. www.myownchinesebrocade.com
Music in the Park
Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, May 8 – Chinese cities, although very crowded, seem to always have parks within fairly easy reach of most areas. Many people use the parks for socializing and relaxation. There are quite a variety of activities that go on in these parks and music is a regular one. Sometimes one person is playing, sometimes a group, and sometimes they are singing. Today, we saw this man playing the erhu, a traditional 2 stringed Chinese instrument, and quite a few people sitting around listening. www.myownchinesebrocade.com
Random and Tacky Statues
Today Leah and I went to a “Theme Park” within our big city park. In English, it is called “Dream Garden.” For the most part, the flowers were very pretty, there was quite a bit newly planted and we saw workers planting more. The lavender fields were especially beautiful. There was a nice looking new waterpark area, a small amusement park area where we rode the carousel :-), and much more! Then…as in many Chinese theme parks, they had random statues scattered around the park, most of which were quite tacky! Starting with the picture at the top left, you see me with the Smurfs, or lán jīng líng (Blue fairy spirits). They were right next to Pleasant Goat and his crew, and Winnie the Pooh and friends were just down the road. Then there was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and the Prince, standing in front of what looked like a Russian Orthodox style building (???). The Statue of Liberty, not bad looking, but still rather random, about as tall as me, was along a road in front of another garden area, across from the Great Wall replica! The last picture is of a waterfall at the main entrance, quite nice, with waterwheels, red lanterns, and a flower area in front of it with….. penguins???? There was also a “Pigeon Square” which the map labelled as “Square Pigeons” …. We checked, but only found normal looking pigeons :-)
Badminton
China is said to be the best country in the world at badminton. In Chinese, it is called “yu mao qiu,” basically meaning “feather ball.” The reason why they’re the best? I don’t think there is a definite answer, but, I’m sure the government backing those who have talent is a very likely possibility. You do see people playing badminton much more though than in the USA; I remember playing badminton as a kid or at picnics. Here, I often see parents playing with their children or people playing in parks. This picture was taken at about 8:30 in the morning at a park near the hotel we stayed at in Shenzhen. So, how many of you reading this have EVER been up at that time of morning playing badminton with other adults?
White Water Buffalo
Life in China: A Picture A Day, April 6, 2016 - Today we visited the Dongguan Xiangshi Zoo. This is a much smaller zoo than the ones we’ve visited in the surrounding big cities, Shenzhen and Guangzhou. For the most part, we enjoyed it, though we skipped the shows. They had something we’ve never seen before, I thought they were albino Asian water buffalo, but Leah translated the information and they are a specific breed from Guizhou province. There were 4 or 5 adults and a calf. There doesn’t seem to be much information about them in English online, but, there are 135 breeds of water buffalo listed for around the world! and the Guizhou White was one of them! You can see a regular colored one in the background. We have seen the regular colored water buffaloes working on farms outside of the cities. Asian water buffalo are almost extinct in the wild, as most are now domesticated.
