An American in the Far East » Photography

Statue at Martyr’s Memorial, Nanjing

Graham — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:05:00 +0000

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Doorway Detail

Graham — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 03:56:35 +0000

I found some pretty intricate woodwork on a doorway in Tianshui, Gansu Province. I wrote about my trip to Tianshui a little ago; this picture is from the last part of the entry when we visited the old house (the name continues to escape me).

Funny Sign Friday

Graham — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:36:15 +0000

I found this sign at the Martyrs Memorial in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province.

Because in the movies, the good guy always shows mercy to the bad guy. The bad guy, well, let’s call him Grass, is given a respite. The good guy … alright, that’s you, you turn your back to Grass and start walking away into the camera. You have that “oh man, I’m bad ass enough to defeat Grass in a one-on-one battle, but I’m also wise enough to overcome my desire for revenge and walk away” moment. The audience loves it. But then, wait, what’s that in the background? The camera is focused on you, so we can only see a blurry specter rise up from the ground. It’s Grass! Look out! Grass is going to try to take advantage of you letting your guard down! But you know it’s coming. Yeah you do. Because you know how this stuff goes down. It’s in your blood.

You spin around and the final battle ensues! You and Grass become locked in an epic struggle. There’s some wire fighting, some explosions, and plenty of bullets flying. It’s intense. Finally, in the end you prevail over Grass and he is truly defeated. Once again, you show mercy and do not end his life. Because that’s how you roll.

So remember, when faced with the choice of revenge or mercy, show mercy to Grass. Because really, even if Grass tries to take advantage of that, it won’t be the end. Seriously, how much of a fight will Grass put up anyway? It’s grass for goodness sake.

What is this bug?

Graham — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 07:02:09 +0000

This particular bug is a big mystery to me. On most days I see many of these little guys running around outside my apartment building. But I have not seem them anywhere else in China. I figure there must be a big nest or breeding ground right outside my door or something. Anyway, out of pure intellectual curiosity I would really like to know what this bug is. If any of you have some insight into it or can identify it by all means please let me know.

The body is about the size of my fingernail. As you can see it has 6 legs. And it can jump about 2 feet. It’s always a real pleasure when they are climbing on the wall and then hop onto your shoulder or head. There are these red ones and there are smaller ones–about one half to one third the size-that are all black with white spots.

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Turtle Face

Graham — Tue, 26 May 2009 15:29:01 +0000

In many temples throughout China you will see statues such as this one. What you are seeing is the face of the turtle. What you don’t see is the enormous stone stele sitting on its back.

I found this particular turtle at Qingyang Temple (Temple of the Dark Ram) in Chengdu, Sichuan province. The temple was originally built in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). However, most of the temple that remains was restored during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).