Sep 2014. Anshan A black and white artwork at the Dongshan Hotel lobby in Anshan, depicting a countryside with giant industrial machineries looming in the background. Like an army of industrial monsters marching forward to invade farms and countrysides. I have lived in three different cities in China for ten years. It is true that... Continue Reading →
Aug 2014. Benxi Next day morning I took a cab from my hotel to the Guanmenshan National Forest Park. It was a beautiful sunny day with bright blue skies and a cool weather. The ride through Benzi's countryside was scenic. The mountainous green landscape was dotted with red-roofed farm houses. I saw large expanses of... Continue Reading →
Aug 2014. Benxi The Benxi water cave is situated in the Benxi Shuidong National Park. When I took a taxi to the location, the first thing I saw when I arrived at the entrance were these shops selling the largest variety of nuts and dried fruits I have ever seen in my life. There were... Continue Reading →
Aug 2014. Shenyang I was making a weekend trip to a city called Benzi, about two hours train ride from Shenyang. I didn't make a big plan. I just wanted to get out of Shenyang and not think about work that weekend. But I wanted to go somewhere green and my colleagues recommended me to... Continue Reading →
A small farm in China. 2016 The cart is solidly made in timber and is heavy to wheel on its own. If you add all that load on top, it is an extremely laboriously task to pull or push this cart anywhere. Maybe this is is the only transportation that this roadside fruit seller has.... Continue Reading →
A small farm in China. 2016 A three storey building is coming up on the main road in a rural area. Workers are delivering bricks, while others are hauling it over a crane to the third floor. The property owner is overseeing the work. Labour cost is low in China and so not many machines... Continue Reading →
A small farm in China. 2016 Looking at the other makeshift set-ups in this rural road during the Chinese New Year break, I expected a humbler set-up for this. Maybe manually turned wooden skewers with chicken pieces over naked flames. But no, we have the standard rotisserie machine grilling away twenty chicken legs diligently. And... Continue Reading →
A small farm in China. 2016 I use star anise regularly when making biryanis or chicken or mutton curries. But I didn't know that star anise actually originated in Southern China and that it has been used as a medicine and spice for more than 3,000 years. Of course, in the later years, it spread... Continue Reading →
A small farm in China. 2016 This must easily be a Chinese farmer's best friend: a three-wheeler. Its locally made and cheap. You can get one for between RMB1,000 - 2,000 (USD142-283). The farmer's wife can sit in front beside him. You can load up whatever you want into the cart at the back like... Continue Reading →
A small farm in China. 2016 Sanzi is a crispy, salty deep-fried dough snack. Strips of dough are wrapped around the hand, pulled, folded back and pulled again until you get even thin noodles which are then deep-fried in oil. The snack is often associated with the Qingming Festival or Tomb Clearing Festival but it... Continue Reading →