View allAll Photos Tagged Baoding
Truly one of the Enormous Train Stations of China. Hongqiao is also the site of Shanghai's domestic airport.
but no betel nut beauties (this is not Taiwan).
Actually, I think this is just areca fruit without the betel leaf, but I haven't opened it to try. I was given it by a student in the lab. Shulong spat his out. Mine will stay wrapped.
The manufacturer's website, kwwbl.com, is a treat. Their products get the party going and allow you to "fumigate without cigarette." Their video even uses a sinophone laowai (老外) to prove it.
China's High Speed rail service is cheap and efficient and in the best traditions of Socialist Realist architecture, their new stations are properly designed "People's Palaces" - even if there is no toilet paper in the bogs!
No one in our travel group of ten friends had ever heard of this World Heritage site that we visited in China, last November.... we were dazzled continuously by the sights we saw....one after another !
A little more internet info :
" The Dazu stone carvings at Chongqing are one of ancient China's most valuable treasures. They were declared a National Key Cultural Relics Protected Unit in 1961, and in 1999 they were listed as a World Culture Heritage Site.
These carvings are distributed over 41 places in Dazu County, Sichuan. Some 50,000 carvings were begun in 892 AD and carved in the ensuing Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song, or over a span of some 250 years. In addition to Buddhist and Daoist art, there are also Buddhist, Daoist, and Confucian statues that stand together in one grotto of which the 'Mizong' or Tantric (esoteric) Buddhist statues predominate. The largest concentration and largest scale of carvings are at Baoding and Beishan.
The Baoding carvings are to the northeast of Dazu City, amongst beautiful mountains. Buddhist disciples have traditionally brought incense to the sacred place and there is a saying 'look up towards Emei, look down towards Baoding.'
The Song-dynasty Emperor Zhao Zhifeng was the instigator of the many Buddhist carvings in this region. Some thirteen places on the mountains hold around ten thousand sculptures that were accomplished over seventy years, from 1179 to 1249. The largest in scale are the Great Buddha Bay and the Small Buddha Bay. In addition to displaying Song?dynasty sculptural art, these are of interest for their narrative appeal: they tell about the birth of Buddha, about the nature of change, about heaven, hell, cause and effect, and especially about people.
Normal people, including farmers, are shown working in the carvings, also singing and dancing, drinking wine, pursuing the various tasks of daily life. "
Nothing too amazing here, just a shot from that Imperial retreat area. I can't remember exactly what it's called. This particular lake is full of lotus, obviously. Unfortunately, the lotuses had already bloomed and were starting to die by the time we got there.
Taken about 20 miles outside Beijing. This went on for several minutes, so at 300 km/ hour speed, that means miles of ground was covered in smog so thick you couldn't see 10 feet away.
Xintiandi is a shikumen that has been renovated and highly polished into an upscale dining and shopping area. This particular building in the complex housed the first Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in 1921. Like a Chinese version of Faneuil Hall, but with more irony.
One of a series of stone carvings at Baoding Shan, Dazu County showing punishments like "knee-chopping" and bad behavior like a "A Husband Failing to recognize his wife."
It was very neat when a high speed train passed through without stopping while I was on the platform. Like a rocket went by.
this offender against Qing Dynasty law, after strangulation, had his body intact, which was considered a better thing than dismemberment
This is the reclining Buddha at Baoding mountain grottoes of the Dazu complex, a UNESCO World Heritage site that can be freely visited. The artists and sculptors are real, and the interactions are spontenous. There are no guards or minders. ;-)
Weet-Bix is my only dietary link with Oz - Lyn brought me two small boxes when she last visited. Vegemite was not requested.
The local supermarket doesn't stock fresh milk, only UHT in plastic or laminated satchels. I have seen street vendors with large cans of milk dispensing it into plastic bags for the purchasers to carry home.
Coffee options are limited. Only instant for sale and mostly as premixed with sugar and whitener. It amused me to see in one supermarket small jars of Nescafe complete with a security tags (those tags that cause the alarms to beep as you exit). Caffeine addicts can be troublesome. However, the local white spirits are sold in 5 L plastic contains as one would buy turps from a hardware shop, and it is cheaper than the small jar of instant coffee.
in them everyday since arriving, with less than 3 to go now. The weather is getting cold, so I'm turning Chinese and invested in some long johns. The heating doesn't come on till the 15 Nov, so for now the unit is like an ice box, but at least inside it is still just in double digits (I guess). OK, yes, I must stop taking pictures in here and take the camera out for a walk.
This turbine is located in a very small town near Weifang, Shandong Province.
It's much bigger than I have imagined:)
lunch for the sedentary - did you notice that even the muffin tops here have that slim east asian physique (they are 6 for 4 yuan at the local supermarket). The heart cup is one of the two I have here, not as nice as my bee cup at home, but the best of the two available.
The perfect inanimate object that plays a supporting role in romance, wine. Wine, sex, romance and seduction - Uncorked
And for you perverted fuggers there are always my balls of steel ;) Baoding Ball Video
For Flickr Group Roulette &
Inanimate Romance & threesixtyfive
One of a pair of Baoding Spheres that I use to strengthen my hands. This pair came from a store in the San Francisco chinatown.
Ancient Lotus Pond Garden was first built in the early years of the Yuan Dynasty (1277 A.D.). It used to be called Xiang Xue Garden (Fragrant Snow Garden). The main part of the garden is the lake that is covered with blossoming lotus plants during the summer. Some small and exquisite pavilions are built around the lake. Located in Baoding, Hebei province, the Ancient Lotus Pond Garden is one of the oldest classical gardens still in existence in China and ranks among China's top ten historical gardens.
Day 9 - January 18th 2011
Week 1 - Room Random
Shot - Baoding Balls
Chinese Medicine Balls (Baoding Balls) that I purchased in China town couple of years ago. For me it help pass time and releases stress also helps in focusing.
The case is on my computer/laptop desk.
4 Second exposure in a dark room against a dark blue sheet. LED flashlight as light source.