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Tag Archives: China

Weekly Photo Challenge: Beyond

21 Monday Jan 2013

Posted by Mona in China, Photography, Travels

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

Beijing, China, Hutong, narrow streets

“Do you have a photo which invites the viewer to look beyond? Are there hidden depths in the background? Is the focal point just a framing for the rest of the picture? If it’s not clear why we should look beyond, tell us! “

Hutong Doorway

Hutong Doorway

Last summer, I traveled from Shanghai to Beijing by myself and spent five days visiting the ancient sites. My favorite tour was in the Hutong area, the ancient neighborhoods of narrow streets and courtyard residences. Stop for a moment with me and look beyond the worn threshold.

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Travel Theme: Multiples

06 Sunday Jan 2013

Tags

China, Shanghai, Travel Themes: Multiples

9

Shanghai

While wandering the streets of Shanghai, I watched this young woman on the street. Delivering something? Perhaps. Watch her. Watch the direction of her head as she glances upon the glitz in the shop window and then continues on to complete her tasks.

Young Woman at Work
Young Woman at Work

Posted by Mona | Filed under China, Photography, Travels

≈ Leave a comment

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Sunday Post: Peaceful

02 Sunday Dec 2012

Tags

Canon 60D, China, Feicheng, Feicheng Shandong Province China, jakesprinter, Sunday Post: Peaceful

I took this shot July 3, at a city park where I worked in Feicheng, Shandong Province, China. I’ve returned to this image frequently, trying to attach a story to the woman.  At first look, this might appear to be peaceful scene, but the more I look at it, I don’t think it is.

Resting After Supper

Resting After Supper

The reflection of trees at the top of the image give us a feeling of peace, and the woman is resting in the peace of the evening. However, the lotus leaves cut across the shot, right in the center, creating a feeling of unease and unrest. Look closely; there is a discarded paper cup littering the lotus leaves. A metaphor?

The woman, herself, appears to be more troubled than peaceful. Her brow is raised; her posture is not relaxed. She has carried her portable stool down the hill to the lotus pond, possibly searching for a quiet rest,  for a moment of peace. Is she praying for someone? Her husband? Her child? Herself?

You can find other posts in response to Jake’s Sunday Challenge at his link:  http://jakesprinters.wordpress.com

 

Posted by Mona | Filed under China, Nature, People, Photography, Travels

≈ 7 Comments

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Old Door in Shanghai

27 Monday Aug 2012

Tags

China, Old door, Shanghai

It seems that this tattered door with peeling paint leads into people’s lives. Do you see the mail boxes? Someone must be living here. Who?

Are they as worn as the door? As broken as the door knob?

Does the door hide a lonely woman who is waiting for her son to call? Does an old man check the rusted mailbox each day, hoping for a letter from his daughter? Does it lead to an apartment filled with a happy, noisy family? Does it open to an artist pouring his soul into his music? 

Does the door open to lives of despair…or hope?

I wonder.

Shanghai, China

Posted by Mona | Filed under China, Photography, Travels

≈ 3 Comments

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A Woman Alone in Shanghai

23 Thursday Aug 2012

Tags

alone in a foreign country, China, Old Shanghai, tourist shopping, traveling alone

Old Shanghai is a Disney-esque maze of shops with Ancient Chinese architectural facades. It’s a cacophony of bright colors, exotic and familiar tastes, enticing aromas, glaring sounds, inexpensive (cheap) gifts for the family back home, and high quality merchandise.

The sales people work hard to lure the tourist into their shops with tantalizing promises of bargains and beauty and to insure that she doesn’t leave empty-handed. 

I was looking for black pearl earrings to match the necklace I’d bought at the Summer Palace in Beijing last summer. I soon learned that the casual perusal of the jewelry counters was anything but casual. The pretty young women were ready with their calculators, offering one gem after another.

I gave up my quest for the black pearls when I realized that I could not determine if the pearls were authentic or if I were about to pay a fair price or an absurdly high price for fake pearls.

I decided that the one gift I wanted for myself would be wind chimes.

I looked in every likely shop. I asked in many shops … that was sometimes quite humorous as I attempted to mime the movement of the chimes and mimic the light airy melodies.

Thanks to a group of tourists from Germany, I found help from a nice woman who volunteers as a sort of guide in Old Shanghai. I breathed a deep sigh to find someone who understood me and could communicate with me.

She directed me across the street, into the gritty markets.

I admit that I was just a bit apprehensive because I was alone and obviously a tourist…my appearance screaming white senior citizen.

I kept my bag and camera close to my side as I pretended to know what I was doing. (Possibly my concerns were unnecessary.)

I walked up and down several streets, asking in one shop after another. A few shops sold wind chimes, but they were huge and absurdly expensive…the kind you’d hang in a Buddhist Temple, I thought.

Finally, just as the light mist turned to serious rain, I found my wind chimes deep inside the maze of shops. Of course, my casual inquiries about price produced a flurry of activity as this gentleman brought down one chime after another.

After at least 20 minutes of negotiating, I purchased the wind chimes. He tried hard to sell me more merchandise, telling me that this bell would bring good luck or that statue would attract money into my life. He seemed flattered when I asked to take his picture and posed for my camera.

A perfect ending to my afternoon alone in Old Shanghai.

As I sit at my computer back at home, this all seems surreal. Was I really there? Did I actually walk these streets by myself? Did I communicate with people even though neither of us spoke the other’s language. I must have. The pictures are stored on my computer and the wind chimes now hang on my patio, gifting me with light tinkling music when the breeze gently wafts across my patio and delighting me with a symphony during a storm.

Posted by Mona | Filed under China, People, Photography, Travels

≈ 19 Comments

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Heavy Load on a Busy Street in Shanghai

23 Thursday Aug 2012

Tags

China, common people, heavy load, iPhone photography, Shanghai

I took this shot with my iPhone in Shanghai.

Posted by Mona | Filed under China, People, Photography, Travels

≈ 3 Comments

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Waiting

17 Friday Aug 2012

Tags

bikes, China, Feicheng, parks

These bikes belong to the people who work in one of the parks in Feicheng. They seem alive to me … like animals waiting for their masters to return.

Posted by Mona | Filed under China, People, Photography

≈ 7 Comments

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The Community of Games

16 Thursday Aug 2012

Tags

A WomanTraveling Alone China, card games, China, Chinese Chess, Chinese community, Feicheng Shandong Province China, Life in China, mahjong, Shanghai, The people of China, Travels in China

I surreptitiously watched card games and Mahjong games being played on make-shift tables on sidewalks all over Shanghai and Feicheng. The players, seated on small collapsible stools, spent hours at their games.

I was disappointed that I was never able to get a picture.

At the end of my stay in Feicheng, I had a few hours to wander in the park across from our hotel, and finally got my shot, not of cards or Mahjong, but something equally absorbing. The haze of cigarette smoke drifted amidst the men who were so focused on the game that they took no notice of me or my camera.

Not a single man glanced my way, which allowed me to watch their game without feeling as if I were intruding.

They play with discs that are similar to checkers; yet the moves seemed more like chess.

I learned later that the game is called Chinese chess.

Posted by Mona | Filed under China, People, Photography, Travels

≈ 2 Comments

Gallery

Deterioration

12 Sunday Aug 2012

Posted by Mona in China, Photography, Travels

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

boarded up shops, China, China travels, demolition, deteriorating buildings, old buildings, Shanghai, Shanghai apartment

This gallery contains 7 photos.

I am intrigued by this building that I passed several times in my solo wanderings around Shanghai. Do people still …

Continue reading →

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A Story in a Picture

19 Thursday Jul 2012

Tags

China, finding love, laundry, one world, peace, People of China, Shanghai, Story of Life, Street Scenes, students

Sometimes a picture might tell a story. Perhaps this one tells a little about life in Shanghai. Perhaps it tells a larger story.

The two men in the foreground: I wonder what they are thinking.  One appears to be anxiously looking for something. A taxi maybe? The other, casually crouching on the curb. Is he waiting for a ride? Just passing the time?

Look closely inside the gate.  A young couple (perhaps students because they are both wearing backpacks) pass by rows of doors that lead into the lives inside the apartments.  Laundry hangs from the windows and across the narrow street. Most of the apartments have window air-conditioning units. It looks as if this was once a modern and upscale apartment complex.

More people are deeper inside, heading toward us. There must be another entrance into the complex because there are a few cars, and of course, the ubiquitous bike, both motorized and foot-powered, and it doesn’t look as if a car would fit through this iron gate.

I frequently go about my life, concerned about only that which directly affects me. I don’t consider that there are countless numbers of people all over the world who have their daily problems, concerns, joys, and loves. I believe that it is important to stop and think for a moment that we all share the same desires, not just for food, shelter, and clothing, but for companionship, safety, and peace. Sometimes, if we are lucky, we find a way to fulfill these desires, and, if we are very fortunate, we might find a little love along the way.

LIFE

Posted by Mona | Filed under China, People, Photography, Travels

≈ 9 Comments

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