I went to see check out an apartment today near Dawanglu station, one stop over from Guomao. The apartment was pretty dingy. I unfortunately didn't think to take pictures (temporary loss of brain function). The weather today was pretty nice and sunny. I went to a Wal-Mart! It had a whole supermarket on one side, very good prices too. The place smelled like pure plastic though. I took a pan from in front of the Soho buildings, a very upscale living complex at Dawanglu. I post pics of buildings because I love buildings. I know they may not seem very interesting to some, and I know they're not very creative or artistic, and I'm only using my little digi. But I really want to nail across the point that this city is freaking huge.
Panorama facing N from in front of the Soho living complex. (google map link)
In the back of this building is where the Wal-Mart is. I really have no excuse for not taking pictures inside the Wal-Mart.
So much construction. All new buildings seem to me to have a 40story starting height. All the major roads are divided like our highways, express and collectors, and the collectors is broken into cars and bikes. This is Chang'anjie, the Yonge st. of Beijing.
I went to Guomao subway station to meet a Canadian friend yesterday, Bruno. Guomao is the Beijing International Trade Centre, and has two buildings (it seems that the twin-towers concept is a common theme). In the base of it is a shopping complex, with such expensive stores it makes Yorkville seem like a street-market. This panorama shot was taken facing S from the trade centre.
Beijing is so freaking big. Since arriving here, I've discovered that you can walk an hour in any direction, and will pass three or four major budding-metropolii, with hundreds of restaurants, tons of business hq's, and at least one squallid stretch which is amazingly rustic and bustling. Old vs. New is a serious theme here, and many times you can see a hundred-million dollar complex in the same eyeful as a five-hundred year old stone gate and wall. I'm in the midst of looking for an apartment. On my first day out, I went to see Tian'an men square. It's really big, like everything else here. In the middle of the city, there is a huge stretch of this square and the Forbidden Palace and the National People's Museum and dozens of very grand and rustic temples and buildings, quite widely spaced apart. Beijing is not particularly dense, not like Hong Kong, rather, it's sprawling. It's like LA, but the suburbs are replaced by more business and downtown-like developments. I didn't have time to check out the Palace, but I went into the National Museum, which had some amazing art. I've decided I'm going to become rich solely so I can collect Asian art. Well, maybe there are a couple of other reasons, but the museum motivated me a lot. I only brought my little digital camera, so these shots are a bit lacking, but they capture the day mostly. I took a bunch of really funny little movie clips too. I've figured out how to share them, on youtube. Google video is actually blocked here in China (?).
The centre portion.
Probably the most intricate piece in the museum. The entire piece is about the size of a softball.
This is by the same artist, equally as intricate. The men were about 2.5inches tall.
Man looking in traditional liquor jug, which is empty. This theme is common here. I was watching a cartoon the other day, in which the main character was an alcoholic bear who kept outsmarting his wife who was using utmost ninja-skills to stop him from drinking. The entire episode was about him wanting liquor... "wo yao he jiu!"
Carving.
This wood-relief was amazing, soooo detailed. I used to love Where's Waldo when I was a kid, this thing reminded me of that. This is about 1/5 the total length of the piece.
The details!
A jade twin-bowl, Tang Dynasty.
People's Monument. Chinese flag with moon in background. The forbidden palace, from Tian'an Men Square.
I'm currently in Beijing, but haven't really got any stories yet, so I'm starting with my layover in Vancouver. I arrived in Vancouver on the 25th, at 6pm, and was due to fly out at 12:30pm on the 26th. Yep, they gave me an 18hr layover. It all worked out though. Vancouver is amazing. I managed to get in contact with Michelle, a friend of Sam's. Michelle lives downtown. She took me out to a fun downtown bar (the Comox Street Long Bar and Grill), we hung with her friends, then in the morning I awoke at 6:30 to go for a walk to English Bay, and through Stanley Park and finally across Coal Harbour. Speaking about it is pointless, I'll let the pictures do the talking. It took me over half an hour to figure out how to change the language in this blogger to english, in order to post this. Nobody in this hotel speaks english, and I'm struck at how difficult it could be for a non-speaker here. More on that later :D
Many trees washed up after a wind-storm that took out many oldgrowth trees from Stanley Park, visible on the upper-left.
Stanley Park, emitting an eery ang beautiful fog. Frosty sand.Art. First impressive tree I encountered in Stanley Park. Looks cretaceous. I don't know what type of bird species this young one was. Apparently they take hydro security very seriously in Vancouver. First art piece at Coal Harbour.
Only in Vancouver would you see such a beautiful and natural foreground, so near to a major road and condo development.
And finally the mountain began to show clearly through the mist.
So much construction. All new buildings seem to me to have a 40story starting height.
All the major roads are divided like our highways, express and collectors, and the collectors is broken into cars and bikes. This is Chang'anjie, the Yonge st. of Beijing.
The centre portion.
