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.

Christmas is upon us again. This year, I’m in Australia, but I’ll be thinking about Christmas in China, which I’ve been fortunate to experience on a number of occasions.

This photo by Keemz of a Christmas tree in Beijing got me thinking about past Christmases in China:

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I guess I should say that I’m happy to spend Christmas here in Australia, with my family – and I am – but part of me will miss the experience of spending Christmas in China:

• The camaraderie with other foreign teachers as we celebrate a Western festival in a non Western country and find ways of making it ‘like home’
• The excitement of my students, which hardened Western high school / university students don’t want to match
• The bustle of the shops on Christmas Eve
• The fire works that will go off on Christmas Eve
• The general surrealness of Christmas in China

Of course, I won’t miss:

• The absence of family
• The fact that most people work on Christmas Day (even if I don’t have to)
• That Christmas Day is a non event compared to Christmas Eve
• That there’s no such thing as Boxing Day (although the same goes for the US)

I hope you all have a great Christmas wherever you are.

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.

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While I was going through my old photos, I came across the following (rather blurry) photo of a Diet Coke can (more…)

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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.

It’s been a while since I posted a photo I’ve found on Flickr, but when I came across this photo of intertwined padlocks on the Great Wall of China by nuck, it just cried out to be included here.

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Nuck’s comment on the photo is as follows:

Young couples interlock padlocks on gates dotting the Great Wall in the belief it will bring the strength of the wall to their relationships.

I never knew that! I can’t remember seeing any padlocks on the Great Wall of China, but I guess if I had seen some, I wouldn’t have thought of them as being significant.

It just goes to show that the Chinese are quite superstitious. In cases like this, I like it! It’s both romantic and endearing. There are times when the superstitions are less appealing however (like when I can’t do something because of a superstition!).

Anyway, I liked the concept when I saw the photo, but the clincher was that it was set on the Great Wall of China, a place I’ve visited and a place of such significance for China.

I’ve seen hundreds of photos of the Great Wall, but never one like this. It was unique. Most photos are just shots of the wall stretching into the distance. To see a photo which wasn’t just a photo of the wall, but was a photo of something else which just happened to be on the wall, was truly refreshing.

Likewise, the topic wasn’t something I’d normally associate with the Great Wall. When I think of it, I’m not thinking about customs and superstitions. I’m thinking about the ancient Great Wall of China, the spectacular achievement by the Chinese of long ago (and boy isn’t it something).

I’m wondering how long is the Great Wall of China, how did they build it, why did they build it, how old is it, etc or perhaps just marvelling at the magnificent engineering feat.

The Great Wall of China is really something that’s worthwhile visiting if you get the chance. Just remember to keep an eye out for the padlocks. If you see any, let me know!

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.

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As mentioned recently, I’m going to publish some of my old photos of China. Here are a couple of photos of an ‘international’ hotel in China – the Dynasty Hotel in Zhaoqing – taken back in 2002. Hotels such as this provide a great refuge for expats living in China, especially those living in small to medium cities.

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Stevo from Asian Ramblings recently visited Zhaoqing, a city I lived in way back in 2002. Even though Stevo didn’t get a chance to check out Zhaoqing, it got me thinking about my time living there and I dug out my old photos.

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I came across this photo by macloop on Flickr, talking about Fug Captive Fish, whatever that means:

The full text of the sign reads:

Fug Captive Fish Or Firds
And Set Them Free Pool

Any guesses on what that means? Birds, not Firds, obviously, but the rest?

Apart from being a great example of Chinglish, it has a little extra significance for me as the photo was taken in Zhaoqing, where I lived for a year or so.

Also, I happen to think it’s a great photo – in black and white with the subject looking down at the sign.

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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.

joelogon posted a photo of himself getting his hair done:

This photo has me a little puzzled. I love it and was going to use it to write about how hair fashion is all the rage amongst young men in China (and it sure is!), but upon looking at it further, it appears that Joe lives in the US. For some reason it comes up when searching for Chinese hair on Flickr. There is no Chinese tag against it, so I have no idea why this happens.

As a result, it doesn’t quite fit into this series, which is only about photos of China. Regardless, I’m going to include it purely because it’s such a great photo! Joe has such wild hair in it! Talk about bad hair day – well technically it’s not a bad hair day, because it’s actually just a hairdresser appointment, but you know what I mean!

Joe, if you ever read this, love the photo, love the wild hair and I’ve got to say that your blog, Dumb Things I Have Done Lately, is also pretty interesting. Best of luck!

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.

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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.

avlxyz posted a photo of some yummy Chinese cabbage soup:

I don’t normally feature photos of food (they are very popular on Flickr), but this photo of Chinese cabbage soup really reminds me of food that is delicious, healthy and can only be found in China. Iconic Chinese food if you like.

This soup looks to be made of delicious pork chunks and Chinese cabbage (known as Baicai in Chinese) leaves. I can almost taste it! Chinese cabbage appears in many Chinese soups (and noodle soup) and for some reason it works extremely well. It tastes wonderful and is great for your health.

I know of a really good cabbage soup diet – the cabbage soup in the photo is a little different from the diet cabbage soup, but I think that this one of the reasons that most Chinese people are so slim. I’m sure there are plenty of other factors, but diet is probably the single most important factor.

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.

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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.

Stas Kulesh posted a photo of some kids playing ping pong (also known as table tennis) on a makeshift ping pong table:

It’s a great photo, combining many elements. First, it shows a typical Chinese village, with the motor bike utility vehicle in the background, the little sweeping brush leaning against the wall, etc. This is a great setting for this photo.

Next, it shows the inventiveness of Chinese people, because they have literally made a ping pong table using a stone counter (not sure what it’s used for) and adding a stick propped on two bricks as the net. The most remarkable table tennis table I’ve ever seen!

Finally, it’s a great action shot, with the ping pong ball arriving at the other end and the boy moving as a result. However, look closely and you’ll notice something strange – the boy at the far end doesn’t have a ping pong paddle!

Great photo, but those boys really need to go buy some more ping pong paddles.

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.

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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.

sherrattsam posted some fascinating photos of people in a Chinese market:

Great stuff! Sherrattsam has captured some great shots of everyday people in a Chinese marketplace. It’s obviously very cold, as they’re all rugged up against the cold.

The jacket on the man in the last shot is a classic. Lots of lovely flowers, probably better suited to woman’s clothing (at least bt Western standards), but hey, when it’s that cold you’re going to wear whatever’s the warmest!

My favourite shot is the first man. Sherrattsam focuses on the hat (when he titled the shot), but it’s the bandaid that really stands out. There’s obviously an interesting story there!

I guess what really struck me about these photos is that not only do all capture interesting Chinese people, they capture real Chinese people. These look like people you see on the streets of China every day and they’re a big part of what makes China so interesting.

If you’ve ever lived in China or even just had a China vacation, you’ll know what I mean!

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.

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