Happy last day of New Year’s!
In lieu of the actual Nanjing lantern festival, here's my lantern :)
Side trip to Shizi Qiao
February 26th, 2010 § 0
On my way back from picking up my fully restored electronic dictionary, I happened to pass by Shizi Qiao on Hunan Lu in all its New Year’s splendor.
Shizi Qiao all decked out for Chinese New Year!
There was a stand selling really beautiful paper-cuts by Jiansu artist Chen Yao (陈耀):
Chen Yao's （陈耀） paper-cut stand
The paper-cutting master himself! (Well a picture of him at least...)
Specially designed for Chinese New Year 2010!
The images in that last paper-cut were chosen to represent different auspicious sayings…Next up we’ve got the lantern festival to celebrate the end of two weeks of New Year’s celebration. I can’t wait to check out Fuzi Miao on Sunday!
Gearing up for Yuanshao is no problem!
Searching for fireworks… pt. 2
February 19th, 2010 § 0
During my late-evening run to McDonald’s tonight, I discovered the best way to find fireworks in an unfamiliar city. One must not have any kind of photography equipment and one must not be seeking fireworks expressly! This way, when one discovers themselves under those spectacular sparks, one can admire without any obligation to make a record!
Alas, I've succumbed to the lure of those seductive arches...let me tell you though, the U.S. totally needs Taro Pie!
Searching for fireworks…
February 19th, 2010 § 0
It can’t be Chinese New Year without fireworks! And so I went out last night in search of some. The hunt was a little disappointing since I had the odd habit of always being in the worst place possible to see them go off.
At last! Fireworks!
The solitary photo above is the only one I took last night that was presentable. My timing and aim leave much to be desired… For a comparison of what other wonderful night vistas I’ve been taking in this CNY, I also include for you a view from Taipei and a view from my dorm room window:
EDIT: Erm…still messing with the video display…forgive the mess…
T’was the third day of Chinese New Year…
February 17th, 2010 § 0
…and all was quiet in Nanjing.
I flew to Shanghai yesterday out of Songshan Airport in Taipei. How surprising it was to find the train station packed to the brim! From what I understand, the majority of travel is done the eve of Chinese New Year, since most people must work up to the very last minute. Given the fact that so much of the labor force is from out-of-town, there’s a kind of vacuum effect that happens to the east coast cities as everyone frantically hops on some sort of transportation back to the inner provinces. It’s possible that since day two of CNY is traditionally reserved for visiting one’s niang jia (the wife’s family), day three’s traffic was thus a result of the overflow of backward returnees.
Well, at least that was the case in Taiwan. The news certainly had enough snapshots of congested north-bound highways back up to Taipei!
I didn’t manage to get back to Nanjing until almost 9pm yesterday, but the stunning lack of cars meant I could commandeer the street for the easier transportation of my luggage. I think I should learn how to travel light! After getting back to the Center this morning, I made a grocery run to Suguo and found the streets much the same in the daytime:
A street normally teeming with people and bikes...
...all is quiet for the Chinese New Year.
The bright red paper scraps left over by nocturnal fire-cracker festivities are the only pieces of evidence that Nanjing is still the throes of New Year’s celebrations. Otherwise, it would appear that the city has decided to take an extended winter nap. But, I think I’ll characterize the lack of life on the streets as being “eerie”. China is a country of 13 billion souls. Stillness and quiet is unheard of as part of its urban landscape!
Happy Chinese New Year!
February 14th, 2010 § 0
I’m officially another year older according to Chinese tradition. Wow…time flies!
虎年年行大運、福虎亨通、虎虎生風!
Chinese New Year’s Eve in Taipei
February 13th, 2010 § 0
Celebrating New Year's eve the traditional way :D
Look! Pretty!
Flower arranging for the New Year!
February 9th, 2010 § 0
The fruits of my labor today!
Do I have a future in flower arrangement?
Bringing you all a very happy Chinese New Year!
I think I like number two better…even though the first one looks much more elegant in real life…I hope my relatives like them!
The 228 Memorial Park
February 8th, 2010 § 0
Good Afternoon Yonghe~! What a gorgeous day!
Yet another late start to the day…drat those mosquitoes! I’m being eaten alive every night! Anyhow…I made my way to the 228 Memorial Park since I’ve never actually been in it, just been driven around it by car and bus. It was quite beautiful, what with the sun shining and people strolling about.
Pavilions in the park.
I thought the 228 Monument itself was rather…strangely shaped. As I couldn’t find a plaque to explain the building’s symbolism (maybe there isn’t any particular meaning?), I was left to my own devices about how to interpret it. Unfortunately, all I could think of was the computer game “Myst” and how the monument looked like it would fit in with the game’s architecture.
The 228 Monument
You walk down the causeway...
...you come to a well-like structure with hand print indentations on it...
...you peer over the side...into the unending abyss!!!
Haha! Cheesy, I know! But I really wonder about the development of the monument. In the same chain of unfortunate events, I also made this trip on the wrong day. Both the 228 Museum and the National Taiwan Museum were closed today. Apparently they don’t operate on Mondays…who knew?
As a consolation prize, I went to MOS Burger for my afternoon snack:
The king of all burgers!!! (ok...rice patty burgers...)
Tomorrow, I think, I’ll try their Kinpira Rice Burger, which has bacon and sliced burdock on it…yum!
Jianguo Flower Market
February 7th, 2010 § 0
After sleeping until noon (Goodness! How embarrassing!), I took the bus into Taipei to visit the Jianguo Flower Market1. There were so many people! And I forgot to replace my camera’s SD card…so no actual photos of the mountains and oceans of people.
The three different types of orchids I bought.
Really…I think I was in heaven! Good orchids are really hard to come by in the U.S. at a reasonable price…but in Taiwan, they’re like weeds! Well, maybe a better way of putting it is that they’re like wild-flowers. The climate over here is perfect for orchid cultivation and so one can purchase a pot for about half of what they go for in the States.
Of course, I was immediately attracted to the non-Phalaenopsis plants, since Phalaenopsis orchids are the ones most commonly found in American florist shops. My main conundrum, however, was the fact that anything I bought today wasn’t going to follow me to China or the U.S., and so had to be a type that I could give away as a gift (i.e. colorful and gaudy). Unfortunately, my first pick was a little out of my budget: a gorgeous peach colored orchid with shimmery petals and a dark brown stem…which made me think immediately of cherry blossoms blooming in the springtime. Price tag: 650 TWD. I almost cried on the spot.
Then, there were a bunch of orchid sproutlings that promised an abundance of curiously shaped blooms that I found absolutely fascinating. Nix on the gift-giving though, too non-standard equals strange expressions when giving to elderly relatives.
I finally settled on a plant with dark purple blooms, something a little different from the fuchsia and white hybrid orchids that always seem to be so popular.
This photo really doesn't do the orchid's color any justice. I think I might have played with my camera a little too much and messed up the settings...alas!
It was 200 NTD, and while there were others going for 100 and 150 NTD, I think in the end I got the better deal! I certainly got enough comments from the ladies standing next to me while waiting to cross the street and for the bus. “Very mysterious color!” said one woman and then she points out the leaves and stem to her companion, “You see, good stem and root system, too! 200 NTD? Not a bad price!”
The other two I bought were whims. At 100 NTD each, they are non-Phalaenopsis (yes!) with yellow and white blooms. A little smaller, but they should be equally bright once they flower.
Oh! I wish I could mail these back home!
Additional back-posts made: 02.06.2010
- A small piece of advice to anyone taking public transportation to the flower market: get off the bus before you hit Ren-ai and Jianguo St. Crossing #1. If you don’t, you’ll get hit with another 15 TWD bus fare because that’s where the bus line moves into the next fare zone. Whoops! [↩]
