Guangzhou
According to Wikipedia, Guangzhou is the capital and largest city of the
Guangdong province in the
People's Republic of China. Located in
southern China on the
Pearl River, about 120 km (75 mi) north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and
trading port.It is the third largest city in China and southern China's largest city. As
of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 12.78 million.
In sum, Guangzhou is the super giant in southern China. On one hand, It has good reputation because of economical prosperity and liberal thinking (compared with the stricter northern): thousands of manufacturers are located here which deploy millions of labors. The location--- close to harbor and Hongkong, brings international sphere. The best newspaper in China, "
China Southern Weekly" comes from here. This news paper is well-known for its in depth investigation into the root problems of Chinese society. On another hand, chaotic traffic, high pressure city life and monstrous buildings form nightmares for most of the citizens, especially for the ordinaries.
My friends FENG and her husband are working in Guangzhou as independent illustrators. They live in an apartment near the Fine Arts Academy with two cats. As animal and nature lovers, we share the same interest in cats. They told me their neighbor who lives a few floors above, had threw several cats out from the apartment window to death.
"Why?!"
"Because this is a depressing city and people feel not good..."
We walked around the Fine Arts Academy to feel a bit more greenery and fresh air which are considered as luxury in Guangzhou. When the sun sets, several homeless cats gather under the trees and some nearby residence bring left-overs to feed them.
Living in the crowded city in the developing country as a cat, you need some luck to survive. Feng's cat went missing once and someone picked her away. In many similar cases, the cat would be sold to some restaurants (this particular dish gave Guangzhou bad reputation and it is criticized by many Chinese people) or become victim of another "depressed person". However, the cat returned after a few months and had developed passion for shrimps -----Feng concluded that the savior of her cat might spoiled her with shrimps and other seafood.
I gave Feng a pair of plain color Dutch klomp as gift. She has made them into arts.
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_4bba807e0100fly2.html
How can people bear living in such condition? Feng and her husband manage to eke out a meager life with their unstable income. A narrow, one bedroom apartment full of wonderful books and their hand made drawings is their home. She also proudly displayed a hand writing cooking receipt book to me. Delicious local dish, lovely house companions and deep affection towards each other and their profession, what would one ask for more from life?
"It will be better. we have so much by leading a simple life."
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Chengdu
According to Wikipedia, Chengdu is the capital of
Sichuan province in
Southwest China. It holds
sub-provincial administrative status. The urban area houses 14,047,625 inhabitants.
Western China is relatively less developed than the east. Therefore, although Chengdu is a big city, it has been famously labeled as a "relaxing place". This is also a place where one can find Panda, hotpot and religion diffusion (Taoist, Chinese Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism).
The U.S consulate is located on a street near my hotel. One day when passing by it, I took a picture 100 meters away. Right away a Chinese police man came to me and asked me to delete the picture. No reason given. He was not arrogant nor friendly. I deleted the picture and he let me go.
When I traveled to the northern of the province, where one can only see empty highway penetrate through large grassland under the transparent light blue sky, it gives me a sense of being alone and thereby a sense of peace. However, some militarists stay by the highway in order to:
1. Check the toll from the transportation.
A truck was stopped, the driver was asked to pay extra fee. The driver said he already paid the toll and shown his evidence. The militarists stopped their process on giving him a fine for a moment:
"Why didn't you show us this earlier? Are you playing with us? Pay the fee and use another highway! "
2. Check the permission to go to certain minority residence area.
Due to the sensitivity of religion conflicts within some area, foreigner are not welcome to visit there making unpleasant stories about the harmonized society.
Apart from all these political annoyance, Chengdu has its charm: I have never seen so many different kinds of temples in a city. I have never tasted such a spicy hotpot ---- It is not only spicy, it also makes your tongue numb!
The Taoist character represents "long living" combing the elements of nature
Two Taoists
