Hunan and Hubei - 2006

Hunan and Hubei- the hometown of my parents, are two adjacent provinces (which means South and North of  Tai Lake...I think) in the middle section of China. I went back for a visit back in 2006 and here are some shots from the trip (I reckon you are all sick of the animal ones).
Fenghuang is a city located at western Hunan - The name means Pheonix in Chinese and the town (populated by ethnic minority Hmong) has a history of over a thousand years. I am a big fan of ancient Chinese architecture (I just love Chinese visual art) so it was a blast taking pictures around the town. These building are mainly saved by tourism while in other big cities, classical buildings (by either Chinese or Western architects) are usually demolished and replaced by something hideous.
The South Gate - Gah, hate those signs on the lamp poles...
The Inn owner's son - There were four people in our room (a girl joined my mom, I and a childhood friend of mine) and it only cost 32 yuans (4 US dollars, using the 2006 conversion rate). Anyway, the restroom was a little nasty though...
A little east of Feng Huang (forgot the name, sorry)- A ruin that became a mini tourist attraction.
A fortress...Maybe? (They totally need to stop the sign thing...)
South Great Wall - It's either the a part of great wall that was built before the big project or just a part that didn't make the cut.
In a plaza in Hubei (I didn't get to take many pictures taken since my grandparent thought I was 6 and didn't let me wander around unless my cousin was with me = = ), a middle aged guy was practicing calligraphy on the tiles with...mop and water.  Here is a poem Yellow Crane Tower (a monumental building in Wuhan, my hometown), something that every elementary school child is required to memorize.
 This ones is about flowers and evergreen plants...I think it was written by the middle age man himself
An ad on the street that tries to sell - Powdered V--gra (spam prevention, ahem) 30 yuan per pouch (is it even gonna work, given that the guy can't even write "pouch" in Chinese?) ,  V--gra 50 yuan per box and pregnancy detection stick 0.5yuan (half a dime?) a piece...It kind of drives me nut to see both traditional and simplified in the same writing.
Of course, no Saturday Snaps is complete without a picture of a cat. This one is from my uncle's house (the cat has never taken any shower in his/her life).

Comments

  1. These pics of China reminds me of old Kung Fu movies back in the day, when me and my sis were so obsessed with them. Sadly, she still is and Im not :P but China Wall is def one of the place in the world I want to visit. That place has so much history

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    1. I actually don't really care about Great Wall that much (if I get a chance, I would visit but not in a pressing manner) since there are just too many tourist around. Actually, I am not sure which part I do want to visit since everywhere is so crowded.

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  2. LOVE the mop calligraphy! Sounds ridiculous but I'm jealous of the middle aged man - my characters are chicken scratch in addition to missing a stroke here and there! *sniff* T.T

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    1. No, that's not ridiculous at all (his writing is way way above average in China anyway). My writing with brushes looks like chicken scratch as well, just confirmed it a few minutes ago with a fountain (brush) pen.

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  3. Erhh...my chicken scratch writing is done with a...pen, not even a fountain brush pen :( By the way, what an adorable little boy, the inn owner's son, all smiling from ear to ear ^.^

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