Anshun - A Photographic Impression

Anshun is a small city in the western part of Guizhou province, we just happened to be there on 元宵节 (yuanxiao festival), the fifteenth of January on the lunar calendar, which officially marks the last day of the New Year celebration. Locals display lanterns and eat rice balls to celebrate! Oh, and they set off a whole bunch of fireworks and firecrackers. (right in your path at times!)

Enjoy the pictures...


















A girl selling fruit, it's pretty amazing that they take the time to carve out the pineapple and prop it on a stick for you to eat like a popscicle.

















A lady trying to peddle off one of her colorful balloons to one of the passer-bys celebrating new years.


















Grandma and granddaughter spending some time together, the new year's all about families getting together.

















Some more modern lanterns for sale for the kids.


















A row of old houses left over from the yester-years of Anshun


















A typical Chinese billboard/bulletin board. (aka Somebody's front wall)

















An old catholic church built by early missionary and converts, I believe it's over 100 years old.

















a sign found in the catholic church courtyard, which states: "Fully implement government policies, Respect citizens' faith."

















The church has a mix of Chinese and western architecture, it has a pagoda and a steeple.

















The locals associate big inflatable things with Chinese New Year, so here is a rainbow bridge thing-a-majig in the celebration spirit.

















the lady sun lantern is now shining and displaying her glory. (Make sure you don't miss the cool skateboarding lantern in the background)

















Ahh... the Anshun Candyman with his mobile cotton candy maker.
























Here is a picture I took while running away from a firework gone awry. It was suppose to explode in mid-air, but didn't do so until it hit the ground.

















"Take your best shot with the pellet gun, break a few balloons and walk away with a chintzy gift you didn't want in the first place!"

















Somebody got to stay up past their bed time.

















My friend Gabe checks out the local BBQ Pit, where you can get any type of meat on a stick and pineapple on a stick. My friend from my college days use to fondly refer to these stands as peddloing "Hepatitis on a stick".



















Oops... this picture is out of order, but anyways, here is a girl joining in the festivities by trying to pick out her favorite lantern. She was having a real hard time, because I think she liked all of them.
























A lady selling tofus on the grill to the throngs of people out celebrating New Years! Guizhou is known for street side eateries like this one.
















A water color work done by a local artist of what Anshun use to look like in the 1960s.

Hair Appointment

I arrived in Shenzhen last night after a couple of whirlwind weeks of traveling throughout Southwest China. (Some pics to come later)

After being on the road for two weeks, I decided it was time to pamper myself and splurge for a $5 Shampoo/Hair cut. Getting a hair cut in China is quite the enjoyable 1 hour experience, 45 minutes of which is spent shampooing and massaging your scalp.

As I was getting my head massaged and my hair shampooed for the nth time, I decided at that moment that if this is any indication of what being a metrosexual might feel like, I could be a metrosexual. I mean, how can anyone not enjoy this kind of pampering?

I digress, what I meant to share with you is a bit of the conversation I had with the girl who was shampooing my hair. She is part of the huge migrant labor force in China trying to make a better life for themselves by going off to the big cities. She arrived in Shenzhen from Hainan Island about 5 months ago.

Me: "What's the weather like in Hainan this time of year?"
Girl: "Similar to here, it's very tropical."

Girl: "So what's the weather like in America?"
Me: "Well, it depends on where you are in America..."
Girl: "Oh..."
Me: "It's kind of like China, if you are in the Northeast, the weather is different from if you are here in the south."
Girl: "Really? I thought America was just America. So it's like China, huh?"

Girl: "So where is Australia in America?"
Me: "Mmm... actually Australia is not in America..."
Girl: "So where is Australia?"
Me: "If you go Southeast from here, you'll get to Australia, it's like a big island."
Girl: "Hainan is a very big island, people think that it's just a little island and are surprised at how big it is."
Me: "Yes, Australia is a very, very big island."

Girl: "So... do you use American money in America or do you use Renminbi?"