Tag Archives: photos

Shenyang Coin Building – Fang Yuan Da Sha

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Stas Kulesh posted a couple of photos of the Shenyang Coin Building, known in Chinese as Fang Yuan Da Sha. The distinctive feature of the building is that it’s shaped like an old Chinese coin (round with a square hole in the middle).

Stas’ first photo shows the building from the side and front:

Fang Yuan Da Sha

The second photo appears to be from the back of the building (ie you cannot see the square center of the coin). It’s still a pretty impressive building though:

Shenyang Coin Building

It’s an amazing building, at once both modern and traditional, a real fusion of Western and Chinese design. Also, I believe that building’s shape has good Feng Shui for attracting money, so it incorporates Chinese beliefs as well.

Shenyang is the capital of Liaoning province, which is situated in north-east China. The Coin Building (also known as the Circle Building) is just south of the North Train Station in Hui Gong Square. According to Synotrip.com, the coin building is home to the Shanghai Bank.

Chinglish And Matteo Ricci

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gwydionwilliams posted a photo containing a large block of Chinglish, but which also mentions Matteo Ricci:

Matteo Ricci Chinglish

Although I enjoy posting examples of Chinglish, I prefer short memorable examples, rather than long blocks such as this. These are all to common in China and don’t do much for me. Maybe it’s something to do with my attention span!

However, I chose to feature this example because as well as the large dose of Chinglish, it also mentions Matteo Ricci (pronounced Richi). Who’s Matteo Ricci you ask? He was an Italian Jesuit priest and missionary, who was the first person to introduce Christianity into China (in the 16th century).

How do I know this? Well, I used to live in Zhaoqing, where Matteo Ricci lived for 6 years (from 1583 to 1589). There are a few monuments / historic sites scattered throughout the city.

Also, Fr John Wotherspoon who was the head foreign teacher at the school I worked at in Zhaoqing, is a big fan and even has a Matteo Ricci website. Quite understandable, as John is also a Christian missionary working in China.

So I have a soft spot for Matteo Ricci too (and for Chinglish!).

Fake iPhone

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Okay, here is a photo of a fake iPhone, taken by Robert Scoble of Scobalizer fame.

Robert used to be a famous blogger for Microsoft and now heads up FastCompany.tv. Robert appears to be in China for a couple of weeks to meet entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. He’s also taking some very interesting photos, including this one:

Fake iPhone

Not a surprise really – fake copies of everything are available in China. The IPhone would be a prime target. With his ex-Microsoft connection, I wonder what Robert thinks of all the fake Microsoft software you can buy for under USD$1?

I hope Robert enjoys his trip and posts some more photos of China. I also recommend you get over to his blog to read about his trip to China.

Smog In China

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The bad side of living in China: the pollution. It’s often, but not always, bad throughout most of China. However, in the southern areas (ie Guangdong) the pollution is terrible. The whole of Guangdong is often covered in smog.

Sepperer Markus recently posted a photo of some pretty bad smog in Hong Kong:

Smog in South China

The reason for the terrible polution in Guangdong? The huge number of factories in Guangdong. Guangdong is wall to wall industrial from one side to the other. Of course there are problems with environmental controls in these factories too, which makes it even worse.

This picture matches the worst smog I’ve personally experienced, which was in Guangzhou. Shenzhen, where this was taken, is only about an hour away from Guangzhou, so it’s no surprise that conditions are similar.

Smog is the one thing I don’t like about living in China.

Full Face Sun Visors

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Recently, egorick posted a picture of a cyclist wearing a full face sun visor:

full face sunvisor in China

Co-incidentally, I just came across an old post on Sinosplice called China’s Solar Visor Craze which discusses the sun visor craze starting in 2004. I’m pretty sure that I saw these way back in 2002 in Guangdong, so it may have taken a while for them to spread to the rest of the country.

The popularity of these sun visors is in large part due to an obsession with protecting themselves from the sun. This is especially prevalent in Chinese women, who want to have milky white skin – traditionally peasant women had dark skin from working in the fields, wheras high class ladies spent most of their time indoors and had pale skin as a result.

Anyway, these sun visors are a very clever invention and they seem to be spreading – I recently saw a lady wearing one of these full face sun visors in the middle of Brisbane! Not really surprising given the large number of Chinese people in Brisbane, but it took me rather aback.

Beijing Railway Station At Night

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Magnifique, lizixiang, 璀璨！ posted a couple of superb photos of the Beijing Railway Station (Beijing Zhan) at night:

Beijing railway station at night

Beijing railway station

It looks very impressive at night time. The building is lit superbly, but that’s not a surprise – the Chinese are excellent at lighting buildings at night.

According to Wikipedia it:

opened in the 1950s, as can be seen from its architecture (which merges traditional architecture with 50s-design). It is located in an extremely central location, just next to Jianguomen, and is within the confines of the city’s 2nd Ring Road.

The Beijing Railway Station is a familiar site to me (and to many other visitors to Beijing), although I’ve never caught a train from here. I used to catch a bus near here and the bus stop was always very busy!

Chinglish – No pissing on the Guangzhou Metro

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gruntzooki posted a photo of a sign, clearly spelling out the policy of the Guangzhou Metro with regards to spitting around, pissing and littering rubbishes:

No pissing on the Metro, Guangzhou

The full text of the sign is as follows:

Spitting around, pissing and littering rubbishes like pericarp and wastepaper are strictly prohibited and are subject to a fine of RMB 50 Yuan

So that’s clear then. I understand the spitting part (although does that mean you can spit if it’s only in one direction?) and fair enough about the pissing, but what’s pericarp?

Good to see Chinglish alive and well!

Superstition and the 4th Floor

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cogdogblog posted a photo showing the inside of a lift, with the fourth floor missing from the controls:

Superstition - the 4th Floor

As you can see in the photo, floor 4 is missing from the elevator controls. This is due to superstition – in Chinese, the word for 4 sounds like the word for death.

From what I’ve seen, the way the number 4 is treated in China is a little like the way the number 13 is treated in the West.

Most buildings I’ve been into do have the fourth floor. Most people I’ve met don’t pay too much attention to the fact that the number is supposed to be unlucky.

Of course there are always some people who treat it more seriously and in general Chinese people are more superstitious than those in the West.

Raise Your Phones for the People

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cogdogblog posted a photo:

Raise Your Phones for the People

What can you say about this! An absolute classic, although the subjects of the photo probably don’t realise just how symbolic it is:

The old generation (loyal comrades holding up Chairman Mao’s little red book), replaced by the younger generation (dressed in jeans and a tee-shirt and holding up a mobile phone).

In a way, that sums up just what modern China is like: racing to become a modern super power, but becoming a little Westernised in the process.