Sculpting Blissful Harmony in Xuzhou

In addition to a sculpture of intertwined dragons that provided an opportunity for a multilingual pun, another sculpture at Xuzhou's Yunlong Park recently caught my eye:

Blissful Harmony (花好月圆) by Cai Zengbin (蔡增斌), 2011

In this case, a nearby stone provide the sculpture's title and creator. The title is a Chinese idiom, and I went with a figurative translation reflecting that the woman is playing an erhu. Especially given the lighting conditions at the time, this is hard to see in the above photo. So here is another photo cropped and selectively brightened to help make it more visible:

A more literal translation of the Chinese title would be "lovely flowers, round moon", and flowers and a moon shape are easy to spot. So although there isn't a multilingual pun, the title proves interesting in how it applies both figuratively and literally.

Long Love in Xuzhou

Sculpture at Xuzhou's Yunlong Park

Yes, the bilingual pun in the title was intended.

A Few National Day Night Scenes in Xuzhou

Last night at a central shopping district in Xuzhou some people took selfies with a dog.

Some people took dogs on a walk.

Some people stopped to watch the day's earlier events in Beijing on a large screen.

Some people played basketball.

And some people waited in line for 9-inch pizzas.

On this National Day of the People's Republic of China much seemed as it would be on a busy Saturday night, though there a few more patriotic touches than usual.

Holiday Red Flags at a Temple in Xuzhou, China

One day before the National Day of the People's Republic of China, the Guanyin Rock Temple (大士岩寺) in Xuzhou was already in the holiday spirit.

Quite a mix.

Zooming in to Reveal a Special Moment in Xuzhou

Late yesterday afternoon as I attempted to cross Heping Avenue (和平大道) in Xuzhou, I noticed something wonderful:

Even after significantly cropping the above photo, what caught my eye still might not be apparent:

So a further cropping might help:

Cropping to the extreme of what the photo's resolution allows should make it readily apparent:

If you really still can't figure it out, there's this, though it somewhat pains me to cut out all of the foreground:

When I noticed the sun setting behind Xuzhou's Zhulin Temple (竹林寺), I at first wished I was much closer to the temple. But that wouldn't have achieved what I had in mind, since the ratio of their sizes would be different. What I really could have used was a zoom lens and ideally a tripod as well. Still, I am impressed with the detail my camera was able to catch under the conditions. And I am now glad an underground passageway for reaching the north side of Heping Avenue isn't yet completed. Had it been open, I likely wouldn't have even seen this moment of people on a busy street as the sun set behind them and a distant temple.

Walking Through the Shapes in Xuzhou

If you could walk through one and only one of these shapes, which would you choose?

Of course, I walked through them all, but I found the oval particularly alluring — I think because of how it contrasted with the far more traditionally-typical-in-China circle. In any case, all of these shapes can be found at the Chinese Museum of Huqin Art in Xuzhou's Yunlong Park.

Reason for a Drink: Baijiu Kegs and a Cat in Xuzhou, China

When you stumble upon a convenience store in Xuzhou . . .

Noticed after finishing a tasty local-style dinner

selling Anhui Yingjia Distillery baijiu from kegs . . .

Definitely not sane for a keg stand

*and* they have a cat, . . .

Seemed friendly but quite shy

how can you not buy a least a little bit of the recommended 45% alcohol baijiu?

A generous half a jin (about one quarter of a kilogram or a little more than half a pound) of baijiu

I must say, as far as baijiu goes I found it to be pretty decent and, of course, many worlds better than imitation Bomb erguotou baijiu— better than the real stuff too. Thanks to the cat for convincing me to expand my horizons.

An Overdue Return: A Xuzhou Scene at Day and at Night

I said that some posts without clouds were on the way. I think this photo should count:

Some people prefer nighttime views, so here is another photo without clouds:

This isn't a view you can find in Shanghai. This also isn't a view you could find in Xuzhou, now about a 3 hour high-speed rail trip from Shanghai, when I was last here almost 9 years ago. At least one of these buildings didn't exist then.

My return to Xuzhou, one of the most northern cities in Jiangsu province, also represents an overdue return to China's north. Yet like with nearby Bengbu in Anhui province, it hasn't been hard to find examples of how the city's local culture has been influenced by both the north and the south since it is so close to their border.

So, of course, more about Xuzhou, including details on several of the locations captured in the above photos, will appear here. And I still have a ton of stuff I want to share from Shanghai, Nanning, Yulin, and on and on.

More Clouds Above Shanghai

I suspect some readers are far less excited about clouds than I am, but China has helped me better appreciate them. So please forgive me as I perseverate on this theme. On that note, here is a photo recently taken looking eastward down Yan'an Middle Road (延安中路) in Shanghai while standing on a pedestrian bridge at the intersection with Ruijin No. 1 Road (瑞金一路) and Shimen No. 1 Road (石门一路):

If you look closely at the left side of the photo, you may be able to spot some buildings which appear prominently in a more iconic Shanghai scene I shared, of course also with clouds.

I promise that posts sans clouds are on the way. But more clouds just might happen as well.

Some Hongkou Clouds in Shanghai

Since I shared a photo of clouds above a famous skyline in Shanghai, the wonderfully pleasant weather and relatively good air quality has continued — a welcomed change from the many smoggy days I have experienced here in the past. This has significantly helped me not regret having not yet moved on to my next destination. To continue the cloud theme, I will share a few photos taken today in Shanghai's Hongkou district of scenes not as famous as Shanghai's towering buildings in Lujiazui.

Two photos taken in front of Hongkou Plaza that include the elevated tracks for Line 3 of the Shanghai Metro:

Two photos taken under rather different lighting conditions at nearby Lu Xun Park:

And finally, a sign at Sida Road of how Shanghai's light pollution makes it easy to spot clouds even at night:

Not sure how long the current weather and air quality here will last, but I recommend making the most of it if you can.

Clouds Above an Iconic China Scene

I saw some nice clouds today, so I took a photo.

Oddly enough, a lot of other people seemed to be taking photos of the clouds as well. So it might not be hard to find photos similar to the one above. Who would have guessed?

On a slightly more serious note, I hadn't planned to share a photo of such an iconic and familiar scene to announce my arrival in this city. But I really do like clouds. And the weather was wonderful today. I am not even going to bother with the "guess the city" game. Too easy. Yes, my two days of travel and multiple cities ultimately ended with me arriving in Shanghai — the city in China where I have spent the most time, though it has been a while since I was last here. More about that and other topics, including returning to some things I have left hanging, soon.

It's a Bird . . . It's a Plane . . . No, It's Grilled Cheese & Ham Sandwiches in Guangdong

Apparently at least one aspect of my recent travel adventures raised some eyebrows, and amazingly it wasn't the duck-dog. In regards to me questioning the cutting style of a grilled cheese & ham sandwich I ordered at a Cafe de Coral restaurant at the airport in Zhuhai . . .

One reader tweeted:

"I have no idea why they cut the sandwich that way. I probably shouldn't, but I'm still pondering it.." I guess it is because now the sandwich looks like a bird...or a plane...you were in an airport :-)

— arnauld 🇫🇷 (@arnauld) September 12, 2019

Another reader emailed:

Maybe this will be more obvious after some sleep, but the airport restaurant cut your sandwich to look like an airplane.

Both readers make an excellent point about the airplane similarity. I wouldn't be surprised if there was an airplane element to what happened to my sandwich at the airport. It sounds so neat and simple. But . . .

But . . .

I was careful to say I questioned how the sandwich was cut. I didn't mention the arrangement. The importance of this distinction should become clearer with a photo of the same sandwich I ordered at another Cafe de Coral — this one in Zhongshan last year:

OK, yes, I didn't mention this important detail before. Aha!

OK, yes, I ordered two sandwiches that time. Aha!

It was a wild and crazy day, and both sandwiches came with drinks. I went with a coffee and a tea to mix things up, because why not. The pork chop is pathetically small, but that's something to rant about another day. Just pay attention to the grilled sandwich on the right for now. Yes, ignore the corn too. It's just corn.

The sandwich cut is roughly the same as the sandwich I ordered at the airport in Zhuhai. The arrangement of the pieces is different though. This Zhongshan Cafe de Coral is far away from any airport. And I didn't see anybody flying around there.

So, I'm not completely ruling out an airplane theory yet. But I think we need more to explain the cut of these innocent grilled cheese & ham sandwiches. The arrangement of pieces could be another story.


Added important note: I'm now wondering if I changed the arrangement of the sandwich in Zhongshan in order to display its insides. I'm not sure, but this is something I might do. And it would explain why much of the plate is empty in the photo. So it is possible the sandwiches in Zhongshan and Zhuhai were arranged similarly. But the Zhongshan sandwich would still complicate the "they made it look like an airplane cause you were at an airport" story, since I wasn't even near an airport then.