Assorted China pictures

Here are some China pictures I just could not put into the blogs.


Today these are modern tiles being burned in China. Still hand painted. Like a lot of work done by hand, the workmanship is very, very good.

A close up of toy soliers for sale in a shop, they are fashioned after the full sized figures and are sold as souveniers.

To bring the boats up river they have to be pulled by hand a lot of time. Trundle passes are used but also the sides of the rivers, just like you see here. Yes, they pull a boat up river, with man power only.

An ancient soldier, look at the details. The face is live like, even so it is nearly 60 years old.

These valleys will all be under water when the dam cause the water to rise. This is a beautiful area, really, really old China.

Another parking spot. What a spot, right ? No cars in the area, the terrain is much to hilly for regular roads, the rivers are the only way to transport things.

Goats on the side of the river. I can not figure out how they catch those goats. What do they do? The goats are way to fast on the mountain to catch them alive. Shoot, I figured it out !

Furniture is still hand made and polished here deep in China. One can argue about the design or the colors, but the craftmanship is superb.

Just in case you could not find the coffin before, look here again, it's in the center of the picture, in the hole. See it ?

Like so many boats on the river, this one I call Longboat. I love this old boats, a great way to transport items and people.

Of course to go up river you have to fight hard agains the current. This is hard work. Day in, Day out, hard work.

This is the way ducks are brought to market. You can buy one or the whole lot. In this case a guy bought all of them.

A river man doing his thing. These guys are strong. They might look weak but they are tough and very resilient. Everyone I met smiled. Seems like they are always in a good mood.

If you click on the center of the picture and then look carefully you will see a coffin. The river people buried their dead that way. In a coffin high up in a cliff. Exposed to the elements. When the river rises after the Three Gorges Dam is built, these sites will be under water.

Look at the nice details on the peasant hat, the colors are warm and charming. The detail work is that of an expert in making straw hats.

This 'toy' wagon was found among the tools in the vault of the soldiers. A chariot to transport the emperor in ancient times.

This clay army is supposed to protect the emperor in his after life. It seems to work, so far they have not excavated the tomb of the emperor. Superstition keeps even today's 'explorers' away from the known grave.

A great idea to have all the bikes in racks like this because with so many bikes on the roads it takes a lot of 'Parking' space. This is just one idea to make it more efficient.

Up and down the rivers, I saw men pushing their boats with loaded merchandise. It seemed like a thousand years ago, nothing much changed on the river.

This is high tech, these poles are so flexible that they are used on sky-scraper buildings in Shanghai, too.
Here they are used for bride work. Notice no safety wires. You better step very carefully.

Pushing will all his might against the strong currents of the river.

Looked like a tea house to me. The boats are parked while the men shoot the breeze inside. Or, if it is ancient tradition, they celebrate with a special tea for a special occasion.

There are pool tables on the sidewalk in the streets. Pool must be very popular in China.

Lots of old fishing boats float on the side rivers of the Yangtze.

In time to come I might have to switch to a 3 Wheeler like this.

Of course you can tell this is a gas station, right ? What is diesel, what is super, what is regular ? What octane ? You can tell ?