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  • My Sunday, May 30th Part 1

    Jun 1st 2010

    By: Kerry

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    My Sunday, May 30th 2010

    I decided to take a local bus to see what there was to see at its terminus.   Also, I wanted to get out and explore the river over which the route crossed.  If I had time I planned to visit an open air veggie market I’d seen beside a canal in the city area.  I never did go to that market.

    The first photo is of a map of Xingtai on which I have drawn my route from  near the top left hand corner to the bottom right hand corner; or from north west to south east and return via an interlude in the middle.  You might need to view it in full screen to see it properly

    My bus trip to the city centre was uneventful and especially pleasant as the bus was practically empty.  A far cry from the one I returned on where it became so full that it progressed from normal front entry to back entry to eventually refusal of entry.  I just made it on.

    The first 4 photos were taken as I walked from one bus stop to another.   One is inside a department store which I visited for a quick sticky beak.  It looks like the best one in the city.  The woman on the escalator is wearing a visor which many motorbike/electric bike riders wear in the summer.   The building standing amidst rubble is one of several remaining after the wreckers have been through a block.  The trees in the back of the photo are those shading a market I later visited.

    The number 29 bus trundled through large streets and then turned down a narrow street faced with buildings and farm plots. (Photos)  It then crossed a major road still under construction (photo) and continued along narrow roads through mixed rural and village scenarios. (Photos)  Many buildings have 2 sheets of red paper containing rhyming poems, known as couplets, pasted on each side of the entry.  These are renewed at New Year.   They used to be hand written in the olden days.  The ones on the flats downstairs have the name of a bank on them.  The wheat fields don’t look very tall but the mechanical harvesters (photo) are out on the roads.  I’ve read these are contracted out.   Last June, while waiting for an early morning bus at the start of my holiday, I saw a parade of harvesters drive down the road.    One even had a passenger sleeping on the floor.

    The bus reached a point just before an entry to a toll way.    The driver turned around and let the 2nd last person off.    Given it was the back end of nowhere I was staying put.    One young woman got on and the driver made moves to continue meanwhile turning to me and grumbling.    I considered that my cue to produce another 1 Yuan note and put it in the collection slot at which point he stopped grumbling and continued the journey.

    A bee keeper had set up  his tent and hives amidst a grove of trees.    (photo)   A shepherd followed her flock (photo)  and we passed what must be the glass bottle capital of the world.   (photo)   All arranged by size and colour.    A man wearing his shirt at the customary half mast position shoveled sand into a mixer (Photo)  and another drove  a tractor pulling bricks through a village street.  When he passed me I noticed only one of his lenses was present.   There was no need to get out for the river because there was no river to be seen.  No bridge, just a built up area for traffic.  The river bed was full of rubble and farm plots. (Photo)

    The young guy in the seat in front of me was busy telling someone on his phone about the laoshi on the number 29 bus.   He got off after me still talking and we both headed to the same place.    I’m not convinced he didn’t have plans to strike up a conversation, but I did loiter a lot and he was shy.  I was happy to be left to my own devices.

    I investigated Fuqian St opposite the bus stop.    It is the original old world street in the city.  (Photos)    It’s looked rather tacky with quite a bit of neon and numerous modern advertisements and didn’t have the fresh appearance of the renovated and newly minted Ancient Culture streets of some other cities.  However, its time has come and it was in the throes of renovation and major paint works.    Amazing what removing the grime and applying fresh paint and the presence of blue sky can do.   (Photos)   Mature trees had been planted and seating was under construction.   (Photo)    Not sure how they expected the stone to stay on the bricks with almost dry concrete, but that’s how it was being done.  (Photos)  The imposing building at the end of the street is called Qingfeng  Building.  (Photo)    I didn’t go that far this time.  Last time it had many elderly chatterers around it.    Now it has rubble & the workmen’s tent.

    One of the local shopkeepers was outside using a brush and water to write in on the concrete step.  He gave me a wave.   (Photo)   He doesn’t look like an ordinary Chinese, maybe because he is an “arty type.”    My vast exposure to Chinese culture has indicated that the ones involved in the arts have a more distinctive style to their appearance.  He sells paper, ink, some small antiques/bric a brac, embroideries and art works.   (photo)   Fortune tellers and sellers of funerary offerings also inhabit   the area. (Photos)   Some of the fortune tellers wanted to talk with me but we didn’t get far, but I did get to sit down for a while.    There is a temple behind the street too and it had scaffolding around parts of it.  I didn’t return there.

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    China, Work, Xingtai

    animals, bus, China, culture, markets, Xingtai

  • My Sunday, May 30th Part 2

    Jun 1st 2010

    By: Kerry

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    Part 2

    The tall modern version of a Chinese building at the opposite end of the small street was built in 1988 and looks passed its use by date.  (Photo)   Buildings seem to be a disposable commodity here.  If you need an old style, just build it; don’t worry about keeping one just in case.  Build it again if you need to.  That’s how it seems anyway.

     The area behind that building is an original old world Chinese market street complete with dirt, grime, animals, people, a variety of salable items in addition to people just passing the time.  (Photos)    I did buy a pillow there on a previous occasion.  The things which look like inner-soles are inner-soles. (photo)   People embroider them.  Not sure if it becomes a “too good to use” type item or goes into daily use.  Unadorned inner-soles are everywhere.  It is so hot and then so cold that guess you need something to soak up the sweat and to insulate from the cold roads and footpaths.   The vegetables in the tricycle looked like they were picked 5 minutes beforehand.  (Photo)  Unlike some I’ve seen in open air markets which have been seconds from almost complete purification.  The man with the microphone had absolutely no interest shown in him.  (photo)  Thought it must have been a spray cleaner. When I passed it on my return I looked closely and saw the container had pictures of mosquitoes on it. The woman in the dark in a shop is rolling cotton wadding for quilts.  (Photo)    She has a stall on the street selling drinks.

    I did pat a couple of cats, one of whom wanted a pat but was also interested in tasting Aussie blood.  The other was a clean, healthy, pregnant black cat who was not too interested.   The dog with the really stumpy legs was friendly looking but the owner told it to keep away from me after calling it out to show itself.  (Photo)  It had 2 bright eyed companions tied up inside.   There was a song bird is hanging from a power line.   They get taken outside and to parks for some air while the owner chats with friends.  (Photo)  I have seen  one of the college residents with about 6 bird cages attached to his bike on their way out  of the college.

    There are several pictures of a man making bread.  He and his neighbor were very obliging. (Photos)

     On my walk to the next bus stop I passed a laden bicycle.  (photo)   The building in the background has the arch I walked through to reach the market street.   In the same photo you can also see a woman on a bike wearing one of the cover-ups available in the market street.  The Chinese are keen to avoid the sun.  It’s a class issue. If your skin is dark it means you work in the sun and are poor.  Shelves groan under the weight of products designed to lighten skin.

    The return bus trip was an exercise in sardine management.  Was a matter of choosing the lesser of two evils; risk falling off the step or being mashed by the opening or closing door.  The driver soon decided not to stop and open the door for quite a few stops. It was hot but fortunately not stinking hot so I didn’t leave too much sweat behind.

    I returned via the little shopping centre just past the college in order to collect some photos and to find tea.  I stopped at the first place cooking lamb kebabs, just outside the shop.  The photo shows the cook and waiter.   (Photo)   I sat on a tiny stool at a small table, was offered cigarettes by the other patron and shared his soy beans while we waited for our kebabs.  I’ve had better lamb kebabs and I’m still not convinced that my favourite kebabs are chicken. That particular kebab seller disappeared for parts unknown after the block near her spot started redevelopment and the dirt and dust started flying in earnest. I bought some soy beans to take home.

    Pity I can’t intersperse the photos with text but that seems to be how it is. It’s a bit longwinded but it’s China & there’s much to see even when out for 5-6 hours.  Not like Mum’s visit to Canberra in 1977 where she said “Where’s the pedestrians?”

    If anyone has some ideas of how I can write in Paint program without it looking like I have the DT’s I’m happy to hear them.  Need to do a few more maps before I forget where I’ve been.

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    China, Work, Xingtai

    agriculture, animals, architecture, bus, China, culture, markets, Xingtai

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