China

Silvermine, life of ordinary Chinese by Thomas Sauvin

0
29/03/2013
in

I take the opportunity to have bit of free time today to share a really nice reportage from a french artist based in Beijing. He wants to promote old chinese culture through their old images.

Beijing Silvermine – Thomas Sauvin from Emiland Guillerme on Vimeo.

You will have a unique photographic portrait of the capital and the life of its inhabitants following the Cultural Revolution.

新年快乐！

0
08/02/2013
in

IMAG0295大家好！我今天的文章用汉语因为这个周末是很重要的时间。

2月10日龙年要结束，蛇年要开始。

新年快乐！明年见 :)

 

Translation:

Hi everybody! My post today is entirely written in Chinese because this weekend is really important in China.

February 10th, the Dragon’s Year will be over and will be replaced by the Snake！

Happy New Year! See you next year ;)

Pandas in Sichuan…

0
17/01/2013
in

Panda using its hand to eat Bamboo Highlight today on an impossible to miss if you live or travel in China, Chengdu city and its over-the-world known pandas. I am bit late to publish this article as we traveled there last summer and I already share two initial posts on our trip: Leshan Buddha and Emei Shan.

When you speak about animals in China, you are directly referring to these big white and black teddy bears, the pandas, which seem to have a nice way of life. They are all day eating bamboos, playing with their friends or sleeping.

During our stay in Chengdu, we went to the Panda Breeding and Reseach Center (ticket – 58 yuans) to confirm this idea. This center is the most famous in the world to meet pandas. It opened in 1987 to study and especially to protect this endangered species.

Giant Pandas in their natural area are less than 1000 in the world. They are only found in 3 provinces across China, Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu. (more…)

My daily life in Sanyuanqiao and Phoenix City

0
12/01/2013
in

Focus today on my daily life environment with a short story about my neighborhood Sanyuanqiao or 三元桥 and my compound, Phoenix City or 凤凰城 (Feng Huang Cheng).

Untitled

Sanyuanqiao is located in Chaoyang District, North East of Beijing. Public transports are well connected in this area with Subway Line 10, Airport Express Train (to go to the Airport in 30min) and several bus lines. (more…)

煎饼 JianBing, a traditional snack

1
06/01/2013
in

A quick zoom on local street food with one of the traditional Chinese snack, 煎饼 or JianBing.

This snack is regularly sold to locals for their breakfast. It is a fried crepe made of a batter of wheat and grain flour, a fried egg and some scallions. The cooker adds a small crunchy biscuit called Baocui, 薄脆, a bit of coriander and some sauces following the customers’ taste (thick soya, spicy…).

He finally folds the crepe several times and inserts it in a small plastic bag.

Local cooker in Subway station IMAG0072

(more…)

Beijing, a white city for Christmas…

0
14/12/2012
in

Snow is back in our lovely Beijing city, just in time for Christmas period. This is the second time that I can see snowfall after a quick storm early this year. It is been 2 days of snowfall without interruption. The temperature is more suitable than the previous freezing winter weeks (between -5 and 0 degrees).

The snow doesn’t melt so the streets start to be totally white. Moreover, the Chinese only use straw scrubbing brushes to clean the sidewalks… :(

Bikes covered by snow Cleaner in action

(more…)

万龙 Wan Long, a ski trip in China

0
08/12/2012
in

Cold days are back in Beijing and this for a long period. It remembers me a story that I didn’t publish beginning of this year, our weekend trip to Wan Long to discover Chinese ski resort…

Winter in North China is amazingly cold but also favorable to practice one well-known activity for French, Swiss or Canadian, skiing. This sport is new in China but the country counts enough rich people for a potential development. Most popular ski resorts are located in North China, closed to the famous city of Harbin. Some small places have been opened in Beijing suburbs but most of them only contain one ski lift and 2/3 ski trails. It is good fun for an afternoon but no more…

On my way down

We were able to find a bigger station, Wan Long or 1000 Dragons (4 hours by bus north of Beijing) through a local Chinese agency. It was more simpler to go with them as they take everything in charge: transport, hotel, ski equipment… (more…)

爨底下 Cuandixia, an old village in Beijing suburbs

0
02/12/2012
in

Cuandixia specific chinese characterMy Chinese school planned for all teachers and students a 1-day trip to visit Beijing suburbs. They chose an old local place, Cuandixia, located 90km west of Beijing.

This was a good opportunity, as I wanted to go to this local village for a long time and discover how was the local life in the past.

A bit of history before describing our trip: Cuandixia is a village that was founded by Ming dynasty (1368-1644). It counts approximately 500 traditional houses (which become today inns and restaurants).

The place is located in middle of mountains and the locals put in place some terrace fields to develop agriculture.

This location is also well known for their graffiti and slogans on houses’ walls in favor of Mao Zedong. They are part of latest real ones in China. (more…)

Go to Top