Uncle Fatso has been in China for 400 days on a prolonged business trip. He seems to love the place so much that I wonder whether he will ever return to Malaysia for good.
He's totally enchanted with the country, especially Yunnan. In fact, the picture of the wooden pathway leading to Yulong Mountain or Snow Jade Mountain looks rather picturesque and surreal.
I hope he knows what he's doing.
Some colourful images of actors at a Beijing opera by Uncle Fatso.
Uncle Fatso has sent some lovely pix of Beijing. It's a montage of old Beijing such as the cave-like gate of the famous Tiananmen square, a former brothel with red lanterns, and street fare such as orange-colour fried starfish and skewered fried crab.
Uncle Fatso has taken some contrasting pix of the old and the new during his train ride to Beijing. You can see old houses and new apartments, old train and new train system. Of course, some things remain unchanged -- the railway tracks.
Uncle Fatso has sent more pix of Beijing, taking a great deal of risk in one of them. He took the pix of an illegal poker game in the back lane of Beijing quite discreetly, mindful of being beaten up should he be discovered. He set his camera to B&W and whizzed past before anyone could notice him. He was sweating profusely but was glad of the outcome of the photo.
The pix of the vegetable seller was relatively easier as he gave a broad smile when Uncle Fatso took photos of his children. All the pictures were taken in black and white to give a real and grainy sense of Beijing, which is currently experiencing hot, dry and hazy weather conditions.
Uncle Fatso has finally made his way to Beijing and sent some pictures of Tiananmen Square. Sophie looks forward to Uncle Fatso's snapshot of Beijing.
For instance, is Starbucks still at the Forbidden City? Who will take over the ubiquitous coffee chain's prime spot? What do Beijing residents do during the day and at night for leisure? Are there many rich people in Beijing? Any obvious pictures to show their conspicuous consumption? Are there many poor people in Beijing? How do they cope with the new wealth surrounding them?
Sophie shall wait for Uncle Fatso's next batch of China images. :-)
Uncle Fatso has reached Shanghai and is waxing lyrical about the city. Hope he can send more pix to show the people in the bustling city, and the grandeur of the city and the Bund.
By Uncle Fatso in Shanghai
The city -- situated on the estuary of Yangtze River or Chang Jiang -- had an early start. It was already the largest and most prosperous city in Asia by the 1930s.
Known as "the Oriental Paris", Shanghai is a shopper's paradise. It has also emerged as the financial capital of China. In the early 1990s, the Shanghai government launched a series of new strategies to attract foreign investments. The biggest move was to open up Pudong, once a rural area of Shanghai. The strategies succeeded, and now Pudong has become the financial district of Shanghai, with a lot of skyscrapers.
But Shanghai has become one of the the most polluted cities in the world due to rapid and unbridled industrial development in the past few years.
Nevertheless, Shanghai is still a fascinating mix of East and West. It has one of the richest collections of art deco buildings in the world, thanks to its legacy as a Western concession at the turn of the 20th century.
By Uncle Fatso in China
The size of the rivers is just incredible.
For example, the Yangtze River is the longest river in Asia and the third longest in the world, stretching nearly 3,900 miles. The river has been an important trade and transportation route since ancient times.
One of the new highlights of Chang Jiang is the Three Gorges Dam -- the world's largest dam project, which will eventually bring many changes to this dynamic region when it is fully operational by 2009.
Several large cities -- including Shanghai, Nanjing (南京), Wuhan (武汉) and Chongqing (重庆) -- lie in the river's basin. Large ships can sail to Wuhan and smaller vessels can reach Yichang.
The river is also one of the widest in the world.
It took more than half an hour in a ferry just to cross the southern bank in Changshu (常熟) to the opposite northern bank in Nantong (南通), few hundred kilometres from the River Delta.
That is the only crossing available at this juncture as the 32.4-km Sutong Bridge, which will connect Nantong and Changshu in the east of the Jiangsu (江苏) province, will only be ready by 2009.
It is indeed a mighty river.
Uncle Fatso seems to be making the best of his prolonged business trip to China. I think he's been there for more than four months. Hope he got his wish!
By Uncle Fatso
On the 15th day of Chinese New Year - Yuan Xiao Festival -- I went to Ling Shan (Mountain) Buddha, Ma Shan Island, Taihu Lake, Wuxi, Jiangsu Province.
With Wuxi being the pearl of the Taihu Lake, the Ling Shan Fo (Ling Mountain Buddha) is perceived as the brilliance of the pearl. The Ling Shan Fo, being the pride of Wuxi and Chinese Buddhism as a whole, is the tallest standing Buddha in the world at 88m high.
This giant bronze-plated Buddha is situated on Ma Shan Island, the second-largest island in the Taihu Lake. It is believed to stand watching over the Taihu Lake in its front view, surrounded by mountains on its right and left, and the small Ling Mountain (of which the Buddha is named after) at its back.
The brilliance of the Wuxi pearl, the gigantic Ling Shan Mountain Buddha stands at the end of the long pathway, with an additional 218 flights of steps up to the base of the statue!
Even from the foot of the seemingly long and high steps up the mountain, the Buddha statue looks simply magnificent and breathtaking. The Buddha statue has a serene look, with both palms held wide open, displaying the word "wish" – for a happy and peaceful life to all living things.
Uncle Fatso has a nice snapshot of China during Chinese New Year while he is stuck in the country for business. He obviously went to the zoo and the temple. He's obviously become quite a holy man. Yet he still managed to capture the playful side of the absolutely adorable panda.
Uncle Fatso sent a whole batch of postcard-like pictures again but I have decided to pick the best of the lot instead of posting everything due to time and space constraints. The latest pair of pictures somehow evoke a sense of tranquility. Hope everyone will find tranquility in a world that is full of chaos and injustice.
Latest pix from Uncle Fatso in Hangzhou showing the statue of a legendary monk called Chi Kung. There's not enough literature on him though. Maybe I got the spelling wrong.
Anyway, I cropped the pix on the right a bit for effects. So which pix is better?
