Changing China

I was always amazed at the speed of progress in China. New buildings popped up overnight (at least it seemed that way if you weren't paying attention). The status quo was broken with every journey through the neighborhood.

On our trip through Xi'an in the summer of 2006 my father and I witnessed the changing city on a walk on the city wall. They were tearing down whole neighborhoods with sledgehammers--I never once saw a wrecking ball in China. I have no idea what they were going to replace the old buildings with. I'd like to think that they were replaced with something that appeared traditional, but I doubt that as most of the time the traditional was replaced with dull modern eyesores.

I suppose my hopes for seeing a resurgence in traditional architecture is just the artistic nostalgia talking. Maybe someday more cultures will modernize old designs to aesthetically appease people like me.

The Great Mosque

This week's Friday photo is in honor of Eid Al-Adha (also called Corban Festival), the Muslim holiday of sacrifice that is celebrated by millions of Chinese citizens (thanks to Far West China and xiaoerjing for educating me about this one). The holiday was celebrated on Tuesday.
These photos are from the Great Mosque in Xi'an--just around the corner from the Bell Tower at the center of the city and surrounded by a really nice market that mostly caters to tourists. During my first summer I went through Xi'an with my parents. The Great Mosque is supposedly the oldest in China and is very well maintained.

Return to Photo Friday

I'm trying to remember to keep it simple for photo Fridays. Unfortunately, I'm having a difficult time remembering what photos I've used on this blog in the past few years.

This is the Bell Tower in Xi'an in August 2006. It was one of the friendliest cities I've visited in China. Just around the corner is the Muslim Quarter, where I met a nice shopkeeper who tried to converse with me in Chinese (although my ability was quite lacking at the time). I've also heard similar stories from other foreigners in China about how friendly the people of Xi'an can be.

Photo Friday on Mother's Day

Well, I was busy working and completely forgot that I promised to update the photos every Friday. Fortunately, I have no paying subscribers so no one can sue me for false advertising.
Anyway, here's this week's photo:

In August 2006, I visited Xi'an for the first time with my parents. This is one of the Buddha statues viewed through an incense burner at the Wild Goose Pagoda. We took a group tour and combined it with a trip to the Terracotta Warriors. Needless to say, we spent too much time with the warriors and not enough time at the pagoda (but that's another story).