Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, November 1 – One often challenging part of life as an expat (expatriate or expats are people living outside of their native country), is finding others who relate to life in a way similar to how you do, while living in the midst of a foreign culture. In larger cities, where there are more expats, there are often groups that form for this purpose. During the four years we lived in Shenzhen, I was involved with SWIC, the Shenzhen Women’s International Club. SWIC has members from all around the world! They have weekly social coffee mornings, and offer many classes, group activities, and trips. Although it is an hour drive from me now, I am still a member and enjoy going back at least once every couple of months. Songshan Lake, where we live now, is about a 30-minute drive from the area in Dongguan where most expats live. They have a much smaller group that meets once a month, and there are 8-12 people who usually attend. Today, we went to the SWIC coffee morning in Shenzhen, which is held in the lobby of the Shekou Hilton Hotel, and there were probably about 50 ladies there. I enjoyed conversation with ladies from Panama, Taiwan, UK, Canada, USA and China, and there were many more I didn’t talk to! When the majority of days I’m challenged to just find someone who I can speak to about any minor thing (whether that is with their limited English or my limited Chinese!), it’s like a social energy boost to have ladies to talk to about things I really enjoy talking about! So, thanks to my SWIC friends (old and new), I am now recharged and ready to go! Thanks to Leah also for taking some pictures today while I was busy talking :-)
Cross-border Students
Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, October 28 – There are thousands of schoolchildren who cross the border from Shenzhen, China, into Hong Kong every school day. In 2014-15, there were supposedly almost 25,000! As young as 3 years old, and up through high school. I’m not very knowledgeable about this, so I’m going to quote a China Daily newspaper article:
“More than 202,300 non-local children had been born in Hong Kong by the time the ban (passed in 2013) was imposed. They have permanent residence, but their parents, who are mostly from the mainland, don't, so the children live in Shenzhen and cross the border every day to go to school.The number of children crossing the border for schooling will peak in the 2018-19 school year, before gradually decreasing, according to the Hong Kong Education Bureau…” http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/epaper/2016-05/04/content_25061392.htm
These children can spend up to 4 hours a day getting to school and back home again. Sometimes they have an adult accompany them, but, more often, assistants are in charge of groups of students; The older ones are on their own. There are special lines at immigration for these cross-border students. Although the immigration halls are usually quiet places, if you happen to be there when the school children help fill the hall, it can be quite noisy! You aren’t supposed to use your mobile phones in the Immigration Hall, so I don’t have pictures of them all lined up, but here are a couple photos of children before we got to the immigration lines today, when returning to China from Hong Kong.
Double Ninth Festival
Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, October 9 – Today was the Chongyang or Double Ninth Festival in China. It is the ninth day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar. The common word for nine is “jiu”, which also is the way the word for “long” is pronounced, and “jiu jiu” means “forever.” Because of this, the day was always a time for worshiping ancestors. Today, because of its symbolism for longevity, it is Seniors Day. Younger generations are supposed to show respect to the elderly and make it a special day for them. A very old tradition on this day is to climb mountains. 1500 years ago in China, during the Tang Dynasty, poets often wrote about climbing mountains and it was/is believed that by doing so, disease could be prevented. I remember when we were in Guilin a few years ago and had two elderly women accompany us up Moon Hill, they were in far better physical shape than I was! They said they climbed the mountain a couple times a week. Today’s picture was taken by my friend, Nancy Liang, when she and her daughter climbed Nanshan Mountain in Shenzhen this morning. Since chrysanthemums are blooming at this time of year, they are always admired during the festival, and Chrysanthemum wine is usually enjoyed. The festival can also be called the Height Ascending Festival or the Chrysanthemum Festival.
Stone Baluster Heads
Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, October 8 – I think any country with rivers and lakes has its own style of picturesque bridges and China is no exception! Many of the bridges, whether they are arched, zigzagged, have pavilions in the centers, or something else, have stone balustrades with decorative baluster heads. Long ago, carvings of dragons and phoenixes were used only for the baluster heads on the grounds of imperial buildings; The Forbidden Palace in Beijing has many. In my picture, the dragon baluster heads are around the Drum Tower at the Chiwan Temple in Shenzhen. The bridge is one near us, I’m not sure if the carvings represent flowers or clouds, but they are interesting. Many modern bridges just have plain baluster heads. Other common designs for the more ornate ones are lions, flames, and pomegranates. You can see the plain ones in my post on Zigzag Bridges https://linda-walsh-n6tp.squarespace.com/config/pages/568757bdd8af102bf3da0525
Minghua Ship
Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, October 3 – My friends in Shenzhen know all about this, so it’s for the friends who have never been to Shenzhen! Today we spent the day back in Shenzhen, in the area called Shekou, where we lived for 4 years. There is an area called Sea World (nothing like the American Sea World!) where there are lots of International restaurants, coffee shops, and some other shopping. In the center of it all is this ship, called the Minghua. It was originally a French passenger ship, built in 1962, called the MV Ancerville. In 1973, China bought it and it became the Minghua. In 1983, it was moved to Shekou, and placed where it is today. It’s interesting to look back through the years in Google Earth’s history and see how land was reclaimed over the years, making it ‘look’ like the ship moved inland! Today, the ship houses a hotel and numerous restaurants and bars. The lake next to the ship displays some art installations and is home to a nice light and water show which has regular show times. These pictures show the ship from both ends today.
Han Dynasty Tomb Image Bricks
Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, July 14 – Today we went to the Shenzhen Museum to see some special exhibits; One was about Burial Tombs of the Han Dynasty (206BC – AD 220). It was something I hadn’t learned about before and it was interesting how similar the practices were to the Ancient Egyptian burials and tombs. Over 10,000 underground brick and stone tombs have been discovered throughout China! This exhibit was of relics from the province of Sichuan. Statues were made to represent all the comforts of life, and were placed inside the tomb, and these “image bricks,” either molded or carved, were used to decorate the inside of the tombs. The images on the bricks portrayed important aspects of life: eating, farming, hunting, transportation, entertainment, etc. Statues represented the same things, and murals were also used. It all reminded me of the items that are made of cardboard and burnt for the dead in in modern day China.
Hair Perm Machine
Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, July 12 – We are spending a few days in Shenzhen, went to get haircuts and I decided to take a quick picture of this hair perm machine they use (sorry if it's blurry). They are popular in Asian countries, and although they look similar to old fashioned perm machines, supposedly these use a modern technology from Japan. They are called digital perm machines because the temperatures of the rods are monitored on a digital readout. Supposedly, the wave and curl are different than the kind of perms we get in the USA, not sure about other countries!
Life in China: A Picture A Day, March 16, 2016
Today we visited the Nantou Ancient Village in Shenzhen. People tend to think of Shenzhen as just a modern city because 30 years ago it was just a fishing village, not a known city. But…people did live there, and there is history to be learned! Shenzhen grew up rapidly around the villages. Unfortunately, these old villages continue to be torn down to make room for high rises. Nantou is one old town that some effort has been made to preserve. The preserved South Gate dates back to 1394, when it was built as part of the wall around the town. It is a place where you can see the contrast of old and new. One feature I enjoy of old (and reproduction) Chinese architecture is the eaves tiles, called wadang. Their purpose was to protect the wooden rafters by blocking the rain and wind as well as being decorative. The first ones known date back to about 1000BC. The close-up picture is from the old bank building and the other shows the old Government offices. You can see the roofs with eaves tiles in the center and on both sides.
Life in China: A Picture A Day, March 15, 2016
We are in Shenzhen for 2 days and I don't have my computer, so today's post is pictures from my phone. When we come to the bigger cities like Shenzhen and Hong Kong, we often travel by subway. The English term used here is metro or MTR, but in Singapore, it was the MRT! A "subway" is an underpass for crossing a busy road. Anyhow, the metro system in Shenzhen is fairly new and always very clean. If an elderly person, pregnant woman, or young child gets on and seats are full, there is always someone who offers them a seat. These pictures show a slow time, but at busy times, the people get packed in like a can of sardines!
