Your blog to China
Every week we’ll put up a photo from our huge archive of photos from China. These photos have been taken over numerous visits to China in the past 30 years. The photos show how China has changed over the 30 years we have been visiting it.
Photo of the Week presents: growing mushrooms in a hutong in Beijing
This photo taken in the hutongs of Beijing show that mushrooms can be cultivated anywhere. I recognise enoki and possibly shitake and edible fungus 木耳 , but i think there are other varieties as well.
Mushroom growing is a hobby that I am just starting.
Photo of the week presents:
Join the crowds and pig out on great snacks at Taiyuan’s Food Street 太原食品街
Passing through Taiyuan for a night or two? Taiyuan’s food street 太原食品街 is a great way to spend the evening. Great snacks, cheap beer and tasty desserts await the adventurous.
You won’t have it all to yourself; most of Taiyuan’s population will be there with you.
Our favorite: Grilled Squid in a spicy chili sauce.
To drink: Cold draft beer by the litre.
Photo of the week presents the Great Wall at Jiumenkou 九门口长城 in Liaoning Province. One of the only parts of the Great Wall to be have been built over a river.
Jiumenkou Great Wall on the water is a majestic sight, one of only a few parts of the Great Wall 长城 to have been built across a river. It stands on the isolated border between the northern provinces of Liaoning 辽宁省 and Hebei 河北省 and close to the ancient garrison town of Shanhaiguan 山海关.
For history buffs Jiumenkou Great Wall is a must. Don’t be put off by the tourist facilities that have been set up to accommodate Chinese tour groups. Hang around a while and any crowds will disappear. We recommend going for a walk up either side of the valley to explore some fascinating unrestored remnants of the wall and wait for the groups to go; you’ll soon have the place to yourself.
On our previous day at Shanhaiguan we agreed with a lady taxi driver on 150 yuan for the two sites; the Great Wall at Jiumenkou, and the Great Wall at the edge of the sea.
Though supposedly only 15 kilometers from Shanhaiguan, it takes us almost 45 minutes to reach the site, along a narrow, winding and climbing road. Above us are the remote and abandoned watchtowers perched dramatically on the jagged mountains.
These lonely towers were once the most important defense positions of the Chinese empire. It was in this area where the marauding northern tribes would try to break through and enter the Middle Kingdom. And it is where the Manchus pored over the wall and into China to overthrow the Ming Dynasty and start the Qing Dynasty.
Now, the watchtowers stand abandoned, their purpose for existing rendered obsolete. However, for the visitor, they are a majestic sight.
When we get to Jiumenkou, we find a parking lot, visitors’ reception area and other bits and bobs. Of course, visiting a ‘bridge’ is never just that in China, of course they have developed the site.
Well, this time I can only say that they have done a great job! The restored bridge section near the river is stunning and beautifully reflected in the clear water of the river.
To the left, there is quite a long stretch of restored wall, winding its way up the forested hillside, up to two or three watchtowers, while on the right we can see a glorious unrestored section; its crumbling walls and fading watchtowers stretching as far as the eye can see.
It`s really interesting to be able to see both versions, restored and un restored, at the same time.
We get our tickets and climb on to the bridge first and walk across it: it’s a curious, angular or pointy structure, with interior courtyards and tunnels as well.
Looking down from the wall, you can see straight into a small farmers’ village, dedicated almost exclusively to apple orchards all around the wall, with many of the apples individually wrapped in brown paper bags. Can you imagine how time consuming that must be?
There are ladies with baskets, hawking apples all over the place. The village of one story white-tile houses looks messy – as they all do- but not poor. The apples must sell well. And what a glorious location: imagine having the Great Wall running past your back garden …..
On the right at the far end the wall is blocked, so you can’t clamber up the unrestored bit. We therefore turn left and start climbing: it’s very steep at times, but the wall is broad And well maintained; unscary.
With each turn, or ascent of a watchtower, the views change and we can make out yet another watchtower, or stretch of wall in the distance! It really is a magnificent sight and we have gorgeous blue skies to go with it as well.
Halfway-up, a peasant lady has actually set up an apple and refreshments stall in her orchard, right by the wall and she is doing a brisk trade, flogging apples and bottles of water over the wall.
Closer to the top I notice a young couple stuffing pieces of handkerchief down the back of their little daughter’s shoes.
The poor thing obviously has blisters, so I offer them some plasters. They then take pictures with me. It’s all quite companionable.
Round about watchtower 3 the restored wall becomes less and less restored and eventually peters out. A sign tells people to stop, though a couple of Chinese men have ignored this and climbed up the mountain to very end of the wall anyway; leaving their rather annoyed companions to wait for them.
We head back and obtain a couple of beers from a little stand down below, which we drink on a shady bench, looking over the bridge and the crumbling wall.
It would be total bliss if it were not for the blaring music and tourists dressing up in emperor and empress costumes and/ or taking selfies. However, the setting is beautiful and nothing can spoil that!
As our driver had predicted we have spent over two hours here, having a very good look around, and are now ready to move on.
There are other things here, such as an aviary with ‘rare foul’, but we don’t want to waste time trying to find it. It time for our next destination: Old Dragon Head, this is where the Great Wall once met the sea.
The best day trip from Suzhou
Kunming, Yunnan Province. Catering staff receive a motivational pep talk from their boss.
This is a common sight in many Chinese cities. Staff are often made to stand in public and recieve a motivational pep talk before they start their work. This is especially true in the hospitality industry.
In these pictures, Chefs and Kitchen staff from a downtown Restuarant in China’s south-western city of Kunming, are standing in line while the manager tries to motivate them to work hard and serve their customers to the highest standards.
It is clear that while some are paying attention others are not.
Zhangbi cun 张壁村 is a tiny, beautiful, bucolic village in rural Shanxi Province. The village is famous for its underground castle, Zhangbi Gubao张壁古堡, a labyrinth of tunnels dating back to the Tang Dynasty (more than 1400 years).
Here are a few of the photos we took. There will be more on Zhangbi Village and its underground castle in the coming weeks.
Zhangbi Village can be easily visited on a day trip from the ancient walled city of Pingyao 平遥.
The best way to get to Zhangbi Village is to hire a car and driver. You can also take in the Wang family courtyard 王家大院 on the same excursion. It all makes for a great day out from Pingyao. We paid 400 yuan and which also included stopping at Shuanglin Temple 双林寺 8 kilometers outside Pingyao。
This Photo was taken in Yuanyang Market 元阳市场 Yunnan Province 云南省 in 2006.
It shows a women from the Hani minority 哈尼族 knitting while waiting to sell peanuts
Old and New in Litang. This photo was taken in 2004 on the road from Litang 理塘 in Sichuan Province to Batang on the border with Tibet.
The photo is a harbringer of the changes that were about to come to this area of Sichuan. In the photo there are traditonal Tibetan nomads herding their Yaks. Behind them a brand new car that was about to drive them off the road.
This photo shows a local Cantonese fishing in the part of the Pearl River 珠江 that separates Guangzhou City 广州 from Shamian Island 沙面岛。The back-drop is Shamian Island’s imposing colonial architecture. It could almost be Paris.
For more information on Shamian Island click here: Shamian Island
