Category Archives: Travel

Travels across the world…

Asia, China

Cleaning a Pool

Cheap Work Again

Today again another example of too cheap working resources…

Between our project site and the next building there is a pool with fountains. Its a very shallow one, just 10 centimetres in depth, tiled in light blue. But it covers a large rectangular area: About 100 meters long, 30 meters wide. It is cut into squares of about 10 meters width by the white bars, on which the fountain pipes sit. The beauty of that installation is arguable, but not our topic today. Continue reading Cleaning a Pool →

Asia, China

January

January 2005 nearly passed. And I thought that should not happen without a note here. That obviously proves, that my time available for updates is limited. I decided to do more web-log-like comments, i.e. less comprehensive reports about specific events like visits to far-away cities. I still have some 100+ pictures to review and place here. Beijing is still incomplete, Hong Kong and Bangkok still completely missing. That will take time…

But more brief comments about day-to-day life. As I’m here for work purposes some 80%+ of my time is project work, about which I won’t disclose details on a public web site. But still, there are a couple of small things, observations, which might be of interest. Continue reading January →

Asia, China

Beijing in 1 Day II: Beihai Park

Beijing in 1 Day II: Beihai Park

Note: All pictures starting with “br_” or “don_”, are again published by courtesy of Britta or Don respectively, xiexie nimen!

After exiting Forbidden City we decided to visit Beihai Park, only a 10 minutes walk away. Its most famous attraction is the White Pagoda, situated atop a small island within a lake, which again is surrounded by the park. Continue reading Beijing in 1 Day II: Beihai Park →

Asia, China

Beijing in 1 Day I: Forbidden City

Beijing in 1 Day I: Forbidden City

Note: All pictures starting with “br_” or “don_”, are again published by courtesy of Britta or Don respectively, xiexie nimen!

OK, imagine, for whatever weid reason you have exactly 1 day to spend in Beijing. What would you do? OK, let’s start with arriving: It’s just a two hour flight from Shanghai. We got on one served by China Air for about 50 EUR one way. Sitting in a comfortable 747, full, but lots of space even in the economomy class, friendly service, a warm snack, that’s kind of travelling… Continue reading Beijing in 1 Day I: Forbidden City →

Asia, China

Sightseeing III: Streets, Markets, Gardens

Shanghai Sightseeing III: Streets, Markets, Gardens

And here’s a collection of other areas we visited in Shanghai.

Streets

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br_041023_333: One of the many often-mentioned Art Deco buildings scattered between Old Town and Hungpu districts. And one of the nicer ones. I must admit that this cold grey kind of implementing Art Deco did not touch my soul. Days later I was explained and shown that Art Deco could also materialize itself in modern glass buildings and does have the capability to look nice. Continue reading Sightseeing III: Streets, Markets, Gardens →

Asia, China

First Insights in Shanghai’s Night Life

Yesterday night, a Saturday, we tried the first time to take part in Shanghai’s night life, Britta, Thomas, and myself. We chose Maoming Nanlu (茂名南路) for this first test. “This street has become a night-time magnet” according to Lonely Planet. At least the taxi driver knew the road right away, which made navigation a lot easier. The road is very long, but the pubs and clubs are located at there southern end (“nanlu” = southern [nan] part of the street [lu]). Continue reading First Insights in Shanghai’s Night Life →

Asia, China

Royal Garden Appartment

Royal Garden Appartment

We are living in an appartment complex called Royal Garden. It’s brand new. It’s so brand new that it hasn’t even been finished yet. The interieurs of Buildings 1 and 2 are in progress only. Buildings 5 and 6, where our appartments are, are more or less ready to live in. One day we saw workers carrying furniture into our building. But it seems that those appartments we are living in are fully featured. (Except for the safe I got on the day of my arrival, see Touch-down.) Continue reading Royal Garden Appartment →