Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Bye, 2008

Hey y'all! Hope your new years have all been great. Three more years until the apocalypse! Some stuff from vacation.
Christmas in Hong Kong. I've been there many times before, but I'm still in awe every time I see the buildings and lights and the ridiculous amount of people. My dad lives in Mongkok, a popular tourist spot and shopping area, which has the highest population density in the world. Every night, several streets are blocked off so there'd be enough room for the heavy flow of pedestrians. Shiiiit!
Some drawings of Hong Kongers.
More adventures in China. My dad and I flew to Hefei, a city about four hours west of Shanghai. We went to a car parts factory in the middle of nowhere. It was extremely unsettling seeing people toiling over machinery and breathing in all those toxic fumes. Yet strangely fascinating.

Then a drive south to Huangshan a.k.a. Yellow Mountain. We visited a few ancient villages which were prominent during the Ming Dynasty. There are people still living there, mostly now working in the tourist trade. I spoke to a woman who told me her family has been at Huangshan for generations, and she showed me a picture of her great-great-grandmother when she was a baby. Then she sold me some Mao Zedong trading cards.
Then we climbed up. Walked up and down and up and down miles of stone steps. It was beautiful. No picture will ever capture what it was like to be standing up there looking down at the clouds.


I finish with this quote I found engraved on a plague:
"A relaxed and happy feeling comes from the harmonious coexistence between human and nature."

2 comments:

George Benjamin Conkin said...

lots of good stuff here. China seems like a place i would like to see. I heard that there is a big wall there. Great sketches. Also, it was good seeing you last night

Blake said...

rad dad