Monthly Archives: October 2016

Harrowing

Posted on October 3, 2016 by d4vid

I’ve had my share of harrowing driving experiences.  Driving down the coast of Oregon at night in a rainstorm.  Driving left-handed stick shift on the “wrong” side of the road in England.  Driving up and down Cape Cod in a Nor’easter. … Continue reading →

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Menagerie

Posted on October 3, 2016 by d4vid

The short road back from Bird Island to the main highway was surprisingly slow.  Locals — some on foot, some on motorcycle — had no qualms about blocking traffic. In Mandarin, I quipped to my driver, “They call it Bird … Continue reading →

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Peninsula

Posted on October 3, 2016 by d4vid

One of the major tourist spots in Qinghai is 鸟岛 (Niǎo dǎo meaning “Bird Island.”)  In fact, the Hanzi character for “island” comes from the character for “bird” atop the character for “mountain.” However — much like Monster Island — … Continue reading →

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Crop

Posted on October 3, 2016 by d4vid

On the north rim of Qinghai Lake, I saw fields and fields of this red-yellow crop.  Vaguely, in the distance, you can see the Qilian Mountains which divides Qinghai from Gansu Province. My driver and I stopped to take a … Continue reading →

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Railway

Posted on October 3, 2016 by d4vid

After skirting around the northeast of Qinghai Lake (and China’s “Atomic City” where their nuclear weapon testing once took place) we came within view of the lake itself. Travel was slow-going at times when flocks of sheep would block the … Continue reading →

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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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