Life...The Vivere

 CHINA: Along the Grand Canal 

TWO FACES of CHINA

 November 21, 2015 

  

China is a diverse country with an ancient history. Many sites in China are on the UNESCO World Heritage List. In fact, China now ranks second on the list of largest number of World Heritage sites, just behind Italy. One of the latest additions is their ancient engineering feat... the GRAND CANAL... approved by the World Heritage Committee in 2014. As the world's longest waterway, it's deserving of the title for a project started way back in 486 B.C.  Initially running from Beijing in the north to Hangzhou in the south, the Canal passed through six Chinese provinces, many cities and small towns. For thousands of years, it has formed the backbone of China's transportation system with barges moving grain, rice and other raw materials for the local populations. The barges traveling on the Canal have been and still are owned by individual families who live aboard. It was and is a stable way for a family to make a living!

 

The Grand Canal has changed its course, but its vital where its still in operation. Following the history of this extraordinary engineering achievement was the purpose of our trip to China...a very different China than the one we experienced 13 years ago! But we experienced so much more...

 

Former President Nixon said "Shanghai is the arm of China (industrial center,) Beijing is the heart (political center,) and Hangzhou is China's face" (because it's a beautiful city.) We saw the activity and beauty in each of these cities.

We started our trip in Beijing, the capital city of the People's Republic of China. It was so smoggy that we couldn't see much ahead of us; there was crazy traffic...unruly driving practices as well as too many cars, trucks, bicycles, motorbikes and rickshaws all vying for space.

 

We did lots of walking...safer and easier to catch the feeling of the city. Most of the things I noticed immediately held true throughout the other cities and towns we visited... Beijing was a good introduction. I decided that THE ICONIC PICTURE representing today's China is THIS:

buildings under construction partnered with multiple cranes... there was construction of high rise housing everywhere we went...every city and town we visited had old housing being torn down to make room for these new housing skyscrapers. They're being built in clusters, but each building is a community on its own as the buildings are so tall!

We saw some stunning flower arranging and (rock and flower) gardens everywhere;

red lanterns hanging in every nook and crannie... on almost every pole;

fine, intricately carved wood and stone buildings and sculptures (both ancient and new;)

This is Pixi, one of the stone dragons guarding many of the ancient bridges along the Grand Canal

wonderful art and sculptures on the streets;

 

 

 

 masses of bicycles, motorbikes and wagons piled high, carrying all kinds of  goods;

intense smog almost every day;

and enormous clusters of high rise housing...both completed and still under construction;

wonderful parks and public spaces;

extreme crowds allowing for little elbow-room in the larger cities;

a mix of traditional and modern architecture;

and ancient arched stone bridges...we saw sooo many, constructed in bygone times, spanning the Canal...

Interesting to note that there's a bridge in Paris, France, the Pont Alexandre III, that has a twin in Tainjin Yangliuqing...

Paris' Pont Alexandre III

Bridge in Tainjin Yangliuqing, China

and there's a bridge in Liocheng that resembles the Chapel Covered Bridge in Lucerne, Switzerland.

Chapel Covered Bridge in Lucerne, Switzerland

Covered, painted bridge in Liocheng, China

I can't help wondering whether European bridge builders designed and built both of these bridges...

After visiting museums about the building of the Canal and seeing portions of this great waterway,

it was exciting to finally see an actual working lock on the canal. It was in a town called Huai'an. We stood and walked on a temporary bridge, currently under construction and very heavily used...

we dodged cars, trucks and motorbikes and, in the moments when traffic was light, we searched for different vantage points overlooking the Canal and lock...waiting to see the water level change so the huge, family owned and run barges could pass through, heading further south to drop off and possibly pick up goods on their return. 

We saw people simply living their lives...in spite of "Communist oppression" that didn't seem to lessen the peoples' zest for life...

People can always find a spot to practice their TaiChi...

Fishing is very popular and it's easy because of all the waterways throughout China.

Art is such an important part of the Chinese culture...it was everywhere, in every form!

This woman found a place to practice her singing...I hope the trees appreciated it as much as I did!

Exercise machines are available in the parks for the public to use.

A visit to the local pharmacy...Chinese medicine heals all...

A bride-to-be and her groom...

BUSTED!! He caught me making his photo!! :)

Eating pizza with a plastic glove...keeps hand clean...nice!

A quiet place to study...

...or knit.

Friends in the park...

...and lovers.

Older men take their birds to the park each morning to show them off...the sounds are glorious! It's a time to visit and catch up on the news as well...

We saw grandparents happily spending time with their grandchildren everywhere we went...we saw this combination more than parents with their children!!

Collecting his laundry from a community hanging spot...

It's not unusual to see a group of people dancing in the streets or public squares...it's like a jazzercise class that anyone can join. You see them day or night...

We saw several people playing badminton without a net...just enjoying themselves.

Something I found most surprising was the fact that almost everyone had a selfie stick and was using it to photograph himself/herself in every pose possible! It looked ridiculous and I was a bit appalled at the level of vanity of the Chinese people...it was worse than here at home, and I didn't think that was possible!!

One of our favorite things to do in each town or city was to take photos at night because the bridges and many buildings were often lit up and looked beautiful. Here are some examples...

Rooftops and photos from rooftops are among some of my favorite images to make... like these:

Finally, some photos that are just random...that I particularly like...

We took the famous "bullet train" on some of our travels from city to city...it truly cuts travel time in half!!

This is a tribute to the World Cup Games...China was a participant, but they did very poorly!!

There's a full sized Ferris Wheel right in the center median of a very busy modern bridge...very cool!!!

This is an animal shop located in one of the parks along the Canal...

the goose was a free spirit walking around the animal shop visiting friends...

Housing along the canal...

What fun (and a great time of rest for our weary feet) being pulled in a rickshaw... here's our driver:

Vases and flower pots are something that the Chinese do very well...I would have liked to take home a few, but they were enormous...well used in China!!

I was asked to pose with many people in our travels through the small towns where we saw NO other white tourists. Fun!!!

Another memorable trip concludes...both Michael and I took soooo many photos as there was so much to see! Michael summed up the trip for both of us..."We experienced the transformation of China's middle class... [very different from our visit 13 years ago!] The country is in a building boom... from bullet trains to railways and airport terminals to office buildings, shopping centers and living units. There is a vibrant younger Chinese that is in love with selfies, clothes and iPhones."  Much of the "ancient" is being torn down and rebuilt or replaced totally. Communications to anywhere outside of China is still closely monitored and limited... I wanted to blog from China and couldn't, check Facebook and Instagram and couldn't, and check outside news sources- that, too, was severely limited. But, the food was marvelous and healthy, the people were quick to return a smile and a hello in the small towns but NOT in the big cities, and there was so much eye candy that our cameras could hardly keep up with documenting it all. It WAS a memorable, enjoyable trip, but we're happy to be home in our country, loving all our freedoms!

Big Hugs until my next...and Happy Holidays,
abbyj