ChinaEthnoExp. Part III. Chengdu, Yiwu, Shanghai, Zhuge VillageMapOctober 7–27, 2014 For a Chinese person, water means boiling water. Because thats what you use to make noodles and tea. Public water dispensers (at train stations, on trains, at universities) dont have any cold water. Drinking fountains are rare; cold water usually runs in sinks and can be purchased bottled. ![]() ChengduMapChengdu is yet another large, modern and nondescript Chinese city. ![]() But its also home to one of the largest panda sanctuaries. The panda is an incredibly dumb animal thats completely unequipped for life. It cant even take a dump on its own after birth—a veterinarian has to hand-squeeze the poop out of it. How it manages on its own in the wild is a mystery. A panda cant do anything properly—everything always comes out ass-backwards. Yet pandas are so cute that people have built a breeding center for them, and theyre nurtured and cherished. ![]() I have a series of photographs where Im in a place or situation that most people on earth will never get to experience, and in that place Im staring at my phone as if I couldnt care less about whats going on. One more for the collection: ![]() YiwuMapThe city of Yiwu is home to the worlds largest market of small commodities (toys, jewelry and so on). People come here from all over the world to stock up on Chinese goods: from Africa, from Russia, from Turkey. Thats why there are so many signs in Russian and Turkish restaurants here. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ShanghaiMapShanghai is an awesome city. ![]() Old neighborhoods are being mercilessly demolished. The Chinese arent particularly sentimental. And when an ancient temple needs to be restored, they simply tear it down and build an identical one from scratch. Its good enough for everyone if the new temple resembles the old in color and shape; no one worships old bricks here. ![]() A street noodle shop. Its so cheap that theres a line of customers waiting on the sidewalk. As soon as those who are seated finish their noodles, those standing will take their place. ![]() Every balcony has a special frame on the front for drying laundry. ![]() Symbolic money being burned in honor of some deceased person. The women pull stacks of fake money out of the boxes and set fire to them right on the sidewalk. ![]() A motorcycle taxi driver. ![]() An ancient estate has miraculously survived in the center of the city. ![]() The old women who live there have no money for its maintenance. ![]() The government has no money for its restoration. ![]() And so one of the few real historical and architectural monuments continues to crumble, completely inaccessible to the public. ![]() Fat China and scrawny Africa. ![]() Municipal trash cans. ![]() Zhuge VillageMapAn ancient place that has miraculously avoided being demolished to make way for a highway interchange or apartment buildings. ![]() Its the kind of place where you want to film movies. ![]() Parts of it resemble Portugal, or perhaps Italy. ![]() People lead ordinary lives here. Except that theres a daily influx of tourists. The locals use the pond to wash laundry, store fish in cages, or dispose of food scraps. ![]() The villages main ornament is the lakes. ![]() The old streets are delightful. ![]() A woman selling noodles. ![]() A granny eating rice. By the way, heres the most surprising thing about rice. Restaurants always bring it out as the last dish, after everyones already stuffed themselves with meat, fish and vegetables. This goes completely against what were used to in Europe, where Chinese restaurants bring the rice out first. ![]() An unexpected find. ![]() Its insanely beautiful here. Almost like in Torzhok. ![]() Only its still China. ![]() |
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ChinaEthnoExp. Part III. Chengdu, Yiwu, Shanghai, Zhuge
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