Posts Tagged ‘beijing’

Flickr Picks: My favourite China related finds from Flickr, the photo sharing website. Click on the image to visit the photo's home page on Flickr.

LuxTonnerre posted a photo of people dancing in a public square:

A nice photo of some people dancing in a public square.

This happens a lot in China. People just gather together in a public square and dance. It must be a little more organised than this, because there is music playing over the load speakers. It's a great way to pass a summer night.

I found an interesting story from the China Daily, called It's time to bring out the dancing shoes. Here are a few quotes from the article:

It's summer in China. And for millions of residents, that means it's time to dance.

True, they come out of the woodwork at summer time. Here's a little more detail:

Rather than frequenting private clubs or dance halls, many Chinese prefer to shake their groove thing outdoors, where the dancing is free. Many throw impromptu open-air dance parties that have the feel of an ice rink in reverse: The more advanced take to the outside while the beginners wobble about in the middle.

But even though it's common, it's still not seen as acceptable by everyone:

Still, many Chinese men consider ballroom dancing too feminine. "So we have many all-female pairs," said Yin Guochen, general secretary of the Chinese DanceSport Federation. "People are traditional. Many think that having an unmarried man and women as dance partners might cause problems, like an affair."

Very traditional thinking that. I've seen quite a few dances in public and there are always men there - although I have seen men dancing with men and women dancing with women.

It's not always ballroom or traditional Chinese dancing. Sometimes it's modern dancing too. Well sort of modern. One memory has stuck with me from 2002, when after watching a fountain (that's another story), the following words rang out across the square:

Boom Boom Boom,
Lets go back to my room,
So we can do it all night,
And I can make you feel right.

That song is from the mid 1980s... I'm not sure if anyone understood the lyrics! I'll assume not. Regardless, they all had a great time dancing.

Disclaimer: This photo was not taken by me. It was shared by a third-party on Flickr, under a Creative Commons license. For details on the license, see the photo's home page on the Flickr website.

Flickr Picks: My favourite China related finds from Flickr, the photo sharing website. Click on the image to visit the photo's home page on Flickr.

myuibe posted a photo:

This photo of a street scene has a lot in it:

• The volleyball advertisment: I've always thought that this advertisement is cool. Looks great.
• The KTV Hotel: which you can find throughout in China - although I'm not into Karaoke myself, KTV is an important part of everyday life in China.
• Bicycles on top of a hut: which seems to be UPS hut, providing bicycle couriers I guess. Modern China.

But the real value in this photo comes from the couple sitting on the bench. Their positioning is great: leaning against each other, while the mother nurses the baby, her leg up against the plant holder. Its a classic!

The other stuff in the photo is interesting, but without the couple, it would not add up to a photo I'd pick to highlight on JobsInChina. In fact, the photo would probably benefit from cropping the rest out and making the couple the focus of the photo.

Click on the photo to see the bigger image at the Flickr site. You'll be able to see the details much more clearly.

Disclaimer: This photo was not taken by me. It was shared by a third-party on Flickr, under a Creative Commons license. For details on the license, see the photo's home page on the Flickr website.

Flickr Picks: My favourite China related finds from Flickr, the photo sharing website. Click on the image to visit the photo's home page on Flickr.

denn posted a photo:

A photo of the Xizhimen area of Beijing. The office buildings are a fairly notable landmark in the area.

I also dug up some information from Wikipedia's Xizhimen entry:

formerly a gate in the Beijing city wall and is now the name of a transportation node in Beijing. The gate formerly was the entrance of drinking water for the Emperor, coming from the Jade Spring Hills to the west of Beijing. The gate itself was demolished in 1969.

The 2nd Ring Road currently links with Xizhimen Outer Street, which has recently been transformed into a city express road, linking the western 2nd Ring Road via Beijing Zoo to the 3rd Ring Road. A triple-arched highrise building is a noticeable landmark at the intersection.

It's also has two underground stations (one for line2 and one for line 13) that are close together, but not actually connected.

It's not the most visually appealing photo to appear in the Flickr Picks series (it's not bad, just not as great as some of the others), but I've included it because it shows what Beijing looks like.

Disclaimer: This photo was not taken by me. It was shared by a third-party on Flickr, under a Creative Commons license. For details on the license, see the photo's home page on the Flickr website.

Flickr Picks: My favourite China related finds from Flickr, the photo sharing website. Click on the image to visit the photo's home page on Flickr.

céd posted several photos of the Bird's Nest Olympic Stadium:

  

  

These are some photos of the Olympics Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing.

The Bird’s Nest Stadium is one of the most photographed structures in the world and I've seen many photos of it on Flickr. I'm sure I'll come across many more photos of the stadium in the coming months, leading up to the Beijing Olympics.

In terms of capturing the stadium itself, these photos aren't that great, especially when compared to many others that I've seen. You can't see the whole stadium. The fence is in the way. You can’t see much of the sky, but it seems to be smoggy.

But despite that, these photos really work.

I really like the way that céd has captured people and vehicles in the foreground. That adds a lot of interest to the picture. I especially like the photo with the soldier and the one with the bulldozer.

These photos definitely work well as a set. Each picture works well by itself, but together, they add something to the whole.

Disclaimer: This photo was not taken by me. It was shared by a third-party on Flickr, under a Creative Commons license. For details on the license, see the photo's home page on the Flickr website.

Flickr Picks: My favourite China related finds from Flickr, the photo sharing website. Click on the image to visit the photo's home page on Flickr.

leah.jones posted several photos of the Olympic Relay Torch:

  

Amazing photos by someone who actually got to hold an Olympic Relay Torch. It doesn't look particularly Chinese to me, but it does look really cool. All I can say is that it looks amazing and I'm jealous!

It's hard to believe that these torches have been the centre of so much attention. It's a real shame that there's been so much negativity around the Olympic Relay - this should have been a really joyous event.

Disclaimer: This photo was not taken by me. It was shared by a third-party on Flickr, under a Creative Commons license. For details on the license, see the photo's home page on the Flickr website.

Flickr Picks: My favourite China related finds from Flickr, the photo sharing website. Click on the image to visit the photo's home page on Flickr.

Darren On The Road posted a photo (DSC_4845):

Darren On The Road said:

Nearby, in front of a Korean resturant, the waitstaff stood in formation while what I could only assume was the manager drilled them. He would yell something then his partner would yell "ee, ar, san" (1,2,3) and then the whole group would repeat was the first instructor said. I also saw them marching in formation.

This seems to happen a lot in China (and not just at the Korean restaurants). I've seen it many times. It's just like they are in the military and are on parade.

It's quite amusing to watch. It's the little things like this that make living in China great. You just never know what you're going to see when you go for a walk.

Of course, this would never happen in the West. The restaurant staff would be paid a pittance - maybe 800 yuan a month. No one I know would stand on 'parade' while the manager yelled at - not for minimum wage anyway.

Disclaimer: This photo was not taken by me. It was shared by a third-party on Flickr, under a Creative Commons license. For details on the license, see the photo's home page on the Flickr website.

Flickr Picks: My favourite China related finds from Flickr, the photo sharing website. Click on the image to visit the photo's home page on Flickr.

denn posted a photo:

This is fantastic. A supermarket with lanes painted down the aisles! This supermarket is obviously getting into the Olympic spirit. I'm sure we'll see all sort of craziness in the lead up to the Beijing Olympics.

The posters of athlete jumping hurdles, hanging from the ceiling, really make this picture.

On a side note, that aisle is really wide. I've certainly seen supermarkets in China with such wide aisles, but it's not the norm. More often than not, the aisles are pretty cramped. I wonder if they widened the aisles especially so they could add the lanes? I wouldn't put it past them.

Disclaimer: This photo was not taken by me. It was shared by a third-party on Flickr, under a Creative Commons license. For details on the license, see the photo's home page on the Flickr website.

Image Source: IMG_5882 by chenyingphotoLicense

Following my recent post on Beijing’s new airport terminal being the biggest building in the world, Beijing has claimed another record: Having more public toilets than any other city in the world. (more…)

Image Source: Lobby [Beijing Capital International Airport / Beijing]License

I recently read about the new Terminal 3 at Beijing International Airport. It sounds mightily impressive. Here are a few quotes from the article:

at the size of 170 soccer fields, qualifies as the world’s biggest building.

(more…)