Saturday, August 05, 2006
China Morsels...
I'm getting ready to head home in a few hours. It will be kinda cool leaving China at 3:45 p.m. and arriving back in the New York metropolitan area at 5:30 -- a flight across the world of "only two hours"!
Give or take 13.
Anyway. Here are a few pictures of my journey to the People's Republic. I'll be talking about some of my impressions in the days ahead (due to some of the sensitivities involved, I thought it best not to do daily updates.
The most interesting fact Americans should know about China is that the country has 17 cities with populations of greater than 5 million. Seventeen!!! For comparison's sake, the U.S. has two -- New York and Los Angeles. Indeed, with 20 million by itself, Shanghai has the population of New York, Los Angeles and Chicago combined. These facts tend to inform much of China's economic and political prospects.
********************************************************
Anyway, this first picture is of Our Lady of Sheshan, a smaller church on the grounds of one of the holiest shrines in China -- the Basilica at Sheshan in Shanghai.
This is the lovely watertown of ZhuJiao Township.
And, yes, a manual water taxi is a much more relaxing mode of transportation than the street variety.
The diversity of design in Shanghai skyscrapers is remarkable.
Ditto.
I started getting a reputation among my traveling companions as I thought it important to seek out local flavor. This is Jenny, the proprietor of Jenny's Blue Bar. It was across the street from the Donghu Hotel where I was staying, but what made it stand out was the blaring music coming from the speakers attached to the bar. They wouldn't be allowed to get away with it in the U.S. because of noise codes, but here, it was a good way to attract outside customers! Oh, and the DJ was good too!
Much more upon my return.
Technorati Tags: China
|
Give or take 13.
Anyway. Here are a few pictures of my journey to the People's Republic. I'll be talking about some of my impressions in the days ahead (due to some of the sensitivities involved, I thought it best not to do daily updates.
The most interesting fact Americans should know about China is that the country has 17 cities with populations of greater than 5 million. Seventeen!!! For comparison's sake, the U.S. has two -- New York and Los Angeles. Indeed, with 20 million by itself, Shanghai has the population of New York, Los Angeles and Chicago combined. These facts tend to inform much of China's economic and political prospects.
********************************************************
Anyway, this first picture is of Our Lady of Sheshan, a smaller church on the grounds of one of the holiest shrines in China -- the Basilica at Sheshan in Shanghai.
This is the lovely watertown of ZhuJiao Township.
And, yes, a manual water taxi is a much more relaxing mode of transportation than the street variety.
The diversity of design in Shanghai skyscrapers is remarkable.
Ditto.
I started getting a reputation among my traveling companions as I thought it important to seek out local flavor. This is Jenny, the proprietor of Jenny's Blue Bar. It was across the street from the Donghu Hotel where I was staying, but what made it stand out was the blaring music coming from the speakers attached to the bar. They wouldn't be allowed to get away with it in the U.S. because of noise codes, but here, it was a good way to attract outside customers! Oh, and the DJ was good too!
Much more upon my return.
Technorati Tags: China
