Author Archives: d4vid

Gaze

Posted on October 3, 2016 by d4vid

Continuing toward the north side of Qinghai Lake, we drove past this haunting tower in Gangca with eyes staring out in all four directions.

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Desensitized

Posted on October 3, 2016 by d4vid

My trip arround Qinghai Lake didn’t get off to a great start, from a documentarian perspective.  We stopped at some temple somewhere — I want to say Huangyuan? — but I just snapped a quick pic and urged us on to … Continue reading →

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Teal

Posted on October 3, 2016 by d4vid

青 (qīng) can mean “blue” or “blue-green” or what anthropological linguists dub “grue“.  海 (hǎi) means “sea”.  青海湖 (Qīnghǎi hú) means “Blue-Green Sea Lake” which is redundant, but helps differentiate the lake from the surrounding province which bears its name. In … Continue reading →

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Shanshui III

Posted on October 2, 2016 by d4vid

From the top of the Wild Animal Park, I was able to capture how Xining is cosseted between stark, low mountains to it’s north and tree-covered low mountains to it’s south.   I loved the trees turning yellow.  Perfect for Golden … Continue reading →

Posted in 西宁 | 1 Comment

Sherlock

Posted on October 2, 2016 by d4vid

Sunflower seed shells.  An old Chinese man has sat upon this very bench!  The game is afoot…

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Wild

Posted on October 2, 2016 by d4vid

Went to the 西宁青藏高原野生动物园 (Xīníng qīngzàng gāoyuán yěshēng dòngwùyuán) or the “Xining Zoo” or more accurately “Xining Wild Animal Park” or even more accurately “Xining Tibetan Plateau Wild Animal Park” or for the truly pedantic “Xining Qinghai & Tibetan Plateau Wild … Continue reading →

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Multifarious

Posted on October 2, 2016 by d4vid

This (surreptitiously taken) photography sums up the Muslim section of Xining in particular and much of China in general:  a butcher shop (with meat lying out) next to a metal tubing shop next to a clothes shop next to a toilet … Continue reading →

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Minarets

Posted on October 2, 2016 by d4vid

Xining was a stop on a minor branch of the Northern Silk Road route.  This explains the huge amount of Muslim cultural influence  here, like the impressive Dongguan Mosque. As an 8os kid, I must confess that it was impossible to see … Continue reading →

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Intangible

Posted on October 2, 2016 by d4vid

I was very proud of myself for being able to read that title of this exhibit:  青海是一个多民族地区 (Qīnghǎi shì yīgè duō mínzú dìqū meaning “Qinghai is a Multi-Ethnic Area”)  And it’s true.  Unlike many provinces which are so overwhelmingly Han, … Continue reading →

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Regional

Posted on October 2, 2016 by d4vid

This is the impressive entrance to the Qinghai Regional Museum (with typical Chinese scale.) Weirdly, the main exhibit hall just brags about commerce.  The dairy industry…  The “this one robot” industry… And the “alcohol not famous enough for you to … Continue reading →

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Plateau

Posted on October 1, 2016 by d4vid

I flew to Xining in the Qinghai province — the second west-most province in China, high on the Tibetan Plateau  — and checked in to the Sofitel in a new part of town.  So new that those brightly lit places below my … Continue reading →

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Folders

Posted on September 30, 2016 by d4vid

 The lounge at the Xi’an airport has li’l 肉夹馍 (ròujīamó)!   It’s a Xi’an specialty and the name literally translates as “meat folder bun.”

Posted in 西安 | 2 Comments

Hub

Posted on September 30, 2016 by d4vid

Today is National Day, the first day of the week-long 黄金周 (“Golden Week”) holiday. I’m back in Xi’an.  (“Well, at least you’re out of the tree,” Dr. Grant reassures me.) Have a four hour layover here before heading even farther west … Continue reading →

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Supertrees

Posted on September 17, 2016 by d4vid

This is the Supertree Grove at Gardens by the Bay.  They’re supposed to be this symbol of ecological awareness and environmental technologies, but I just found them garish. At the base of the trees were a series of sculptures depicting … Continue reading →

Posted in 新加坡 | Tagged | 1 Comment

Cloud

Posted on September 17, 2016 by d4vid

At the Gardens by the Bay, I lingered for a long, long time in the domed Cloud Forest which contains the world’s tallest indoor waterfall.  The interior environment mimics the moist, cool climate of the mountains between 3300′ and 9800′.  … Continue reading →

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