random photos

[lizzybennet]

I haven't posted any photos lately, so here are some random ones that I've taken over the past couple weeks.

Last Saturday we went to the Presidential Palace here in Nanjing. It is a sprawling structure housing many different museums. It was a sweltering day and the boys were just not up for sight-seeing. We really only saw the bit about the Taiping Rebellion. What? You say you've never heard of the Taiping Rebellion? Surely you must be new to my journal for I'm sure you would have educated yourself on it when I studied it last year. Don't you remember the paper I had to write on it? No? Well, take this moment and go look it up on Wikipedia. I'd provide the link if I could, but Wikipedia is blocked in China.


Here are the boys standing in front of the Heavenly Son's throne. Wow. I had no idea it would be so lavish. Somehow, despite all my studying about the rebellion, I had it in my mind that they lived in tents and never really amassed such fortune. Just,...wow.





Is it smog or is it simply humidity? Now that the weather has suddenly cooled of, the air looks much clearer. Me thinks this is the humidity. Blech. I'm sooooo glad the weather has finally changed. It was so sudden! Two days ago, we were sweating in shorts and today we had to wear long sleeves. Not complaining!!


Zack: "I think China's favorite color is red." Yes, it is everywhere. I was just pondering on this. Red was considered a lucky color before the communist came along. Did they adopt red because of its positive connotations, or was red already associated with communism? Didn't Russia have the red guard before China? I wonder.


Here is an example of what I mean by Nanjing being such a clean/dirty place. This guy is mopping the glass roof of the pavillion. Why does that need to be mopped? It looks good, anyway. I see him do this about once a week. He also mops the sidewalks and the granite water fountians. I think another reason there area always people cleaning everywhere is because of the surplus in people. There is a greater need to find jobs for people to do. Thus, there is always someone mopping the floor in front of you when you walk through Wal-mart, etc. There seems to be no worry about people slipping on the wet floors and suing. I suppose they think people will just use their common sense. Also, when people do slip they just get up and keep going. There's no need to make a scene. I should know, as I have slipped on some slick granite. Luckily no one was around :)


I love all the cheesy school supplies here. I just love how cute they are. The bird is our electric pencil sharpener. The pencil reads "Welcome to No. 1 Cool Dog's Sport World". and the marker reads "Melon Boy. I feel lucky to have met you." Awesome! I'm so bringing this stuff home with us.

Comments

[ouwxgirl.livejournal.com]

YAY for pictures! I might not comment a lot but I love reading your posts and seeing your pictures.

And here's the Wiki link for those interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiping_Rebellion

Wonder why Wiki is banned. Maybe it is because they don't want people to read up about stuff. *shrugs*

Looks like a fog as opposed to a smog. But then again I'm not there and haven't seen the local weather conditions. ;)

I LOVE that pencil sharperner. For a very short time there my freshman year of college I collected sharpeners. That phase didn't last long, but I still like seeing wacky sharpeners, much like I like the wacky salt and pepper shakers out there. Haha.

[mysteena.livejournal.com]

I'm sure there are many facts on Wikipedia that China just doesn't want made common knowledge. For example, most college kids nowadays haven't even heard of the Tainamen square incident. The gov't probably wants to keep it that way. I found interesting to learn that just earlier this week blogger and blogspot were unblocked in China. I suppose that means the gov't is starting to loosen up on it's internet censorship.

I love wacky salt and pepper shakers too!

[goal145.livejournal.com]

Wikipedia... is blocked... in China...

Why am I not surprised.

[mysteena.livejournal.com]

lol, yeah. It's blocked. Chris likes to access it through a proxy server, but personally I don't miss it. I kind find the info I need on other sites.

[heidial.livejournal.com]

Zack is getting so tallll! I can really see that he is growing up.

[mysteena.livejournal.com]

Isn't he? He'll be taller than me in no time!

[hopeness.livejournal.com]

I do remember you writing the paper.

I guess you encountered the "Great Firewall of China" today. But I thought Westerners didn't have quite so many limitations on their internet?

[mysteena.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure exaclty how the censorship works. We live in Chinese housing, so perhaps we'd be on the same censorship as most Chinese? However, I've had no problem accessing blogspots, which I had heard were censored. I think Internet at work is much more censored than internet at home.

[risingpheenix.livejournal.com]

I would never have any money in China - I would be buying up all the awesome school supplies. I spent all of my allowance in Germany on similar products - all Hello Kitty of course!

I have got to PayPal you so you can find some funny cool stuff.

[mysteena.livejournal.com]

I thought of you today when I saw Hello Kitty. And of course Snoopy, too. It's so fun here. You'd love the shopping. It's almost more fun just to window shop than to actually buy :)

[risingpheenix.livejournal.com]

Take pictures of it all.