Guess The Place!

Last week I had to leave the country for a visa run, and didn't want to return to Hong Kong. I also had only one slot left in the passport and didn't want to go anywhere I needed a visa, like Cambodia or Thailand.

The language on this sign is a giveaway!

Yep, Macau. I had Portuguese food for the first time, I think, in my life. It was a treat to sit in a nice quiet restaurant and order non-Chinese food with some very inexpensive and good wine and eat with a fork. (Though, I think I have forgotten how to eat with a fork. I kept hitting my teeth with the tines.)

This is one little alley on one the middle island, which had great Portuguese gelato.

Rainy Day Lotus at the Hospital Grounds

Shot this lotus while visiting a friend who is recovering from an operation.

Total Solar

I was in kindergarten during the last eclipse I can remember.

The sky was overcast so we couldn't see the sun, but the few minutes of darkness was pretty cool.

This was the darkest point, about 9:08. It was light again in a few mintues.

Anren: Tiny Shoes Museum

One of the interesting things learned here was how widespread the tiny feet fashion was. There were examples of shoes from very diverse areas of China. The museum, with its uneven floors and room dividers made of rope, really makes you sympathize with the restriction and discomfort adorned by these tiny works of art. The shoes' parts:

Near the end of the displays were many pictures of famous women and feminists in China, from recent history as well as modern.

The museum cluster is half price (Y50 to see everything) with your panda card.

Anren: Quake Museum

The main reason for my visit to Jianchuan was the quake museum. There is always controversy when a museum commemorates a disaster or dark chapter in history. This one tells of the event, has a selection of quake inspired art, and includes an earthquake science floor. The entrance wall is lined with poems of the 'Children to Mothers in Heaven' sort, thankfully in Chinese so I only got a mild sense of how tear-jerking they are. This neat sculpture of the quake area is built from twisted rebar:

There are several quake detruction and rescue diorama type exhibits.

One of the things people remember most was the prime minister's swift flight to the disaster area as soon as the news of the quake broke. Here is the water bottle and handwipes he used as well as the megaphone.

One of the most interesting areas was the quake inspired art. Quite a few of the well known heroic stories were depicted, like the mother who managed to text a message to her surviving baby underneath her before the mother died, and the boy who saluted the soldiers rescuing him with his good arm. This one is called Face Changing (an art typical of Sichuan theatre) and shows a Sichuan opera mask, and the front face is covered with newspaper articles on the disaster.

Anren: Badges, Seals, and Clocks

The Jianchuan museum cluster in Anren has ten (or more) museums. Jianchuan is the name of the founder, one of the modern Chinese robber barons. Most of the museums glorify the modern history and military of China. I didn't really expect to be impressed, but found a few of the displays fascinating and the buildings really well done. They are a rare look at how modern Chinese see themselves.

Hundreds of clocks covered with slogans and propaganda are displayed in the Clocks hall. Some are running and fill the space with ticks and chimes.

Anren: Western Sichuan Folk Museum

Shaking off the writing block on this blog to post my visit to Anren, which is a museum town about an hour out of the city. This year the tourism bureau is issuing panda cards which will get you free admission to many sights in the province so I wanted to make the rounds while I still could. The first museum I stumbled into was the free West Sichuan folk Musuem. I loved the buildings.

The descriptions were quite critical of the feudal and patriarchal customs being depicted. Bridal chair: