China Top 10-ish
March 17, 2011 § Leave a comment
How in all the world, could I give myself the goal to choose 10 photos to summarize a post from my recent trip to China? I have heard many times, that choosing a few of your best photos for a competition, an exhibition, or anything of that sort, is a difficult task. I find it to be a downright impossible challenge. But then again, they only have to be the best FOR ME. And I chose most of these because there was a FEELING behind each one when they were taken.
So I will try, here we go:
1) Celebrating our arrival? Nääh, celebrating last days of Chinese New Year.
1.5….) Working in China, a jacket is cheaper than heating…
2) Everybody wants to be a superstar
2.5…) Sooooooo China
3) Never-ending delicacies
3.5……) All kinds of things take place in restrooms…
4) One view of many skyscraper decorations. Amazing night shows, but only till 22.00, then the lights go out for energy savings.
I really liked these police bikes; rustic, standing all over town, blinking red and blue up front, and always without a policeman in sight.
A Lakers fan/street vendor in Shenzhen. Too risky (for us)
Oops, forgot to keep counting, oh well! Gas bottle transport. And IKEA.
Bathroom with a view.
Modern city lights
Spontaneous kisses
Sleeping on the job
Job searching
Sunday Chess in the park
Kung Fu fighting, la la la la la la….
Yarn spinning to order
Lost in translation, so many times….
Sunny smog
Roasting chest nuts as the world passes by.
Piggy back eating
What, it turned out to be more than 10 photos….? Who cares?! 😉
First 48 hrs, China
February 17, 2011 § 1 Comment
One of the most liked types of photography would have to be travel photography. For me it’s something to do with the excitement of the exotic, the extremes, difference from my everyday. So while the Chinese take pictures of road signs and buildings in Switzerland, I am doing the same right now in Shanghai.
I started to write some words down in my little China travel book which I bought for this trip, to help me remember some of the many impressions I would see and experience. When putting these with some pictures on this blog, I can hold on to the memories much longer, even if I lose all the photos stored on my external hard drive… ( long story…).
To start the trip, stress was overwhelming me, until the moment I got into the black limo (no, not stretched), a service which was included with the flight deal. My luggage was swept away from me, I was escorted to the car with an umbrella and climbed into the roomy space which was filled with drinks waiting for me to help myself. Now that was not the taxi I had expected! Pleasant surprises.
First flight was wonderful; fully reclining seats, private little area with a push-button divider to your neighboring traveler (if needed), even automatic window shutters (!), inflight entertainment with screen the size of the seat in front you and good food and wine. I was busy choosing between the over 500 films available and enjoying the amenities, which used to the full would have taken much more than the 5 hours from Switzerland to Dubai. Second flight was less pleasing (you get spoiled quickly); a Boeing 777… (older and less comfortable), so I decided to sleep the whole flight. These impressions (including an inside snapshot of the limo) were captured by my mobile phone, hope to remember upload them at a later time.
Arriving in the afternoon in Shanghai, makes it’s easier to stay awake till bed time. An hour trip to the hotel, and we met our business partner here in China to head out for dinner. The first text message I received from my husband stated: ‘Watch what you eat’. I should have watched better, and learned that it is a good idea to wait to see how the locals do it before starting to eat… but I survived the mini-mistake without any larger inconveniences! PLUS; ordering the very first meal, I got a question I had a hard time answering: ‘Do you eat pig colon?’. ‘Uhh, emmmmmmmm’ Maybe if they are spiced just right? I tried them, and they were spiced just right.
Before I left for China, I got some advice on my Facebook page from friends that I need to remember to dress well, and the Chinese don’t heat buildings enough. That was quite obvious when we saw employees wearing their winter jackets at their desks. And I woke up to 17° in my hotel room this morning . Right now before retiring for the evening, I am warming up myself under the duvet covers.
Enough text for today, more to follow from this trip. We are just warming up. The day in images:
veronica kiefer photography ~ 