Rural Hefei (合肥乡下) - Anhui, China (Part 2)

In the month of December in 2013, I took a trip to China to visit relatives and to travel places and take photos. On this trip, I visited Jiangsu (江苏), Anhui (安徽), Hong Kong (香港), and Macau (澳门). I took many photos on this trip and I will be splitting them into many parts. I will do my best in these blog post to describe the photos, however due to the lack of map data for China (on Google) and my horrible Chinese, I may not be able to give you too much details on certain things. At the time of visit, the smog in China is very heavy. In many of the photos, you will see what looks to be fog or haze, but it is the smog (pollution) in China. Be warned, that the pollution in China is not at safe levels. I started coughing less than one week into the trip, and I did not recover until the beginning of March this year (2014). Many individuals in China had the same cough I got. If you haven't done so, you can view my vlogs here. I already posted all my vlogs (of the entire trip) on Youtube, but these photos will come out in parts.

12/2013，我去中国旅游。我去了江苏、安徽、香港、和澳门玩。我会把照片分成很多部分。我的中文没有那么好，我不能翻译所有的东西。 我去中国的时候有很大的雾霾。我咳嗽咳了好几个月。我这次旅游也拍了一些视频，你可以在这里看。

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To view my best China photos from this trip, use this link. To view all of my photos from 12/15/2013 through 12/17/2013, use this link.

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The photos for today are from Hefei (合肥) in Anhui, China (安徽, 中国). The photos are shot in a rural area in Hefei (合肥).

我今天的照片是在安徽的合肥乡下拍的。

Continuing from the previous post, my ancestors grave site is in these fields. Here is a photo of rural Hefei (合肥) showing the resident's houses off in the distance, with fields of cotton and bok choy. You can also tell from the photo, there is heavy smog even in the rural area. 

 合肥的农村和地。植物有白菜和棉花。

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 31 29 14 N 117 16 02 E

Black and white process of the photo above.  

This is the first time I've seen cotton grown on a plant. I was very interested. 

这是我第一次看到棉花植物。

Another photo of the fields of bok choy and cotton plants. 

农村白菜和棉花地。 

 Here are the narrow dirt roads the workers walk on. 

地里面的土路。

Here is the grave site of our ancestors. No crops are grown on there. Chinese traditions is to burn paper money and launch some firecrackers over the grave site during your visit. In this photo, you can see my relatives. 

Here is a photo of the paper money being burned. These few shots are taken from around the same area, so I won't give a GPS reading.  

 Black and white process of the photo above.  

 Now back out of the fields, back to the houses. Here are some cotton picked off the plant. 

摘下来的棉花。

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 31 29 16 N 117 16 04 E

Here are cotton shells with the cotton already separated out. 

棉花壳 

Here is an even closer shot of freshly picked cotton. 

 摘下来的棉花。

Now we go visit the remains of my great grandfather's house. On the walk there, I spotted this really cool window at a house. I stopped to find a good angle to photograph it. The home owner came to see what I was doing. I told him, I find your window very interesting, I want a photo. He said fine and went back home. This window seems to be one on a really old mud house that is no longer used. There was only 2 walls left on the structure. The home owner stores some building supplies behind the wall. 

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 31 29 16 N 117 16 05 E

  Black and white process of the photo above.  

I get up close to that window for some abstract shots.  

  Black and white process of the photo above.   

I spot a rope on the window. Decided to get a depth of field shot of it.  

  Black and white process of the photo above.   

These are all the photos for today. I hope you have enjoyed viewing them. Next time I will continue with more photos from Anhui, China (安徽, 中国) and a few shots from Suzhou (苏州). Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Google+. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

我下一次有跟多安徽和苏州拍的照片。

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Fish Pond & Vintage Computing - Suzhou, China (Part 2)

In the month of December in 2013, I took a trip to China to visit relatives and to travel places and take photos. On this trip, I visited Jiangsu (江苏), Anhui (安徽), Hong Kong (香港), and Macau (澳门). I took many photos on this trip and I will be splitting them into many parts. I will do my best in these blog post to describe the photos, however due to the lack of map data for China (on Google) and my horrible Chinese, I may not be able to give you too much details on certain things. At the time of visit, the smog in China is very heavy. In many of the photos, you will see what looks to be fog or haze, but it is the smog (pollution) in China. Be warned, that the pollution in China is not at safe levels. I started coughing less than one week into the trip, and I did not recover until the beginning of March this year (2014). Many individuals in China had the same cough I got. If you haven't done so, you can view my vlogs here. I already posted all my vlogs (of the entire trip) on Youtube, but these photos will come out in parts.

12/2013，我去中国旅游。我去了江苏、安徽、香港、和澳门玩。我会把照片分成很多部分。我的中文没有那么好，我不能翻译所有的东西。 我去中国的时候有很大的雾霾。我咳嗽咳了好几个月。我这次旅游也拍了一些视频，你可以在这里看。

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To view my best China photos from this trip, use this link. To view all of my photos from my 2013 China trip, use this link.

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The photos for today are all from Suzhou, Jiangsu, China (苏州, 江苏, 中国). Most of the photos are from a fishing pond, and I got one photo of some vintage computing equipment.

今天我又苏州的照片。很多是在一个鱼塘拍的。一张是旧的电脑产品。

First off, photos from near a fishing pond in Suzhou (苏州) out in the rural area. At the ponds, there was a woman processing cotton by hand. Here are a photo of the cotton out of the shells. I will have more photos of cotton once I get to Anhui (安徽) later in these China photos.  

前面这些照片是在鱼塘拍的。这是一些棉花。我在安徽的时候会有跟多的棉花照片。

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 31 32 29 N 120 48 21 E

 Here is a photo of the person processing the cotton. 

这是挑棉花的人。

 Black and white process of the photo above. 

This is Chinese hairy crab. A delicacy in Asia. They also raise them at this pond. A meal of this can be very expensive. 

中国的大闸蟹。

This is what the crabs look like after being cooked. They were very good.  

上面的大闸蟹。很好吃哦！

 Also at the ponds, they grew some Bok Choy. 

白菜

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 31 32 29 N 120 48 21 E

Now heading toward the fishing ponds. You can see the pollution of China. This is facing a main road (bridge). 

我开始往鱼塘那里走。 你可以看到雾霾。
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 31 32 29 N 120 48 20 E

Now out at the fishing pond. I thought that bathroom off in the distance made a really nice and simple composition. 

到了鱼塘了。

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 31 32 32 N 120 48 13 E

 Black and white process of the photo above. 

Near one of the piers is a tree wrapped in rope to keep it warm during the winter. I thought it would make a nice composition. 

 Black and white process of the photo above. 

By the end of the day, returning to our relatives house, my grandma says she found one of my dad's old briefcases. It was locked but my dad cracked it open. Inside was many vintage computing equipment. I would have shot more photos, but I was tired. Here are some 5.25" 1.6 MB floppy discs. I didn't open the package because I'm hoping it would gain value later on. :) These are the ones with the hole in the middle. I've only seen one before in a museum. I know what a floppy disc is. I'm not that young. I've used those 3.5" ones as a child. 

找出来了一些很早我爸的电脑产品。这是 5.25" 1.6 MB 软盘。

These are all the photos for today. I hope you have enjoyed viewing them. Next time I will continue with more photos from Suzhou, Jiangsu, China (苏州, 江苏, 中国) from Tiger Hill (虎丘). Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Google+. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

我下一次有跟多的苏州在虎丘拍的照片。

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Suzhou Rail Transit - Suzhou, China (Part 1)

In the month of December in 2013, I took a trip to China to visit relatives and to travel places and take photos. On this trip, I visited Jiangsu (江苏), Anhui (安徽), Hong Kong (香港), and Macau (澳门). I took many photos on this trip and I will be splitting them into many parts. I will do my best in these blog post to describe the photos, however due to the lack of map data for China (on Google) and my horrible Chinese, I may not be able to give you too much details on certain things. At the time of visit, the smog in China is very heavy. In many of the photos, you will see what looks to be fog or haze, but it is the smog (pollution) in China. Be warned, that the pollution in China is not at safe levels. I started coughing less than one week into the trip, and I did not recover until the beginning of March this year (2014). Many individuals in China had the same cough I got. If you haven't done so, you can view my vlogs here. I already posted all my vlogs (of the entire trip) on Youtube, but these photos will come out in parts.

12/2013，我去中国旅游。我去了江苏、安徽、香港、和澳门玩。我会把照片分成很多部分。我的中文没有那么好，我不能翻译所有的东西。 我去中国的时候有很大的雾霾。我咳嗽咳了好几个月。我这次旅游也拍了一些视频，你可以在这里看。

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To view my best China photos from this trip, use this link. To view all of my photos from 2013 China trip, use this link.

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The photos for today are all from Suzhou, Jiangsu, China (苏州, 江苏, 中国). I got a few street photography shots from the city, but most of it is from the Suzhou Rail Transit system. Since I knew people that worked in the project, I was able to get a VIP tour of the system 2 days before the lines were opened to the public. Also during the VIP tour, I was given special permission to take photos and share them with you guys. Some normal citizens were given passes to try out the trains, however were not allowed to take photos. No one else will ever get these photos again as the place will never be this empty.

今天，我又在苏州拍的照片。很多今天的照片是在苏州轨道交通拍的。我认识人，所以我在苏州轨道交通是一些没有别人能拍到的照片。

A street in Suzhou (苏州). I kind of miss this place as this is my home town. Honestly, nothing much has changed except the installation of many (and I do mean many) government surveillance cameras. If you watch my vlogs, you'll get to see a few in action. Oh yeah, and they built many new buildings (in other districts in the city). 

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 31 18 09 N 120 36 50 E

A black and white process of the photo above. 

Now into the Suzhou Rail Transit system. This rail system travels between the difference districts of Suzhou (苏州). My Chinese is horrible, so while I did take test rides with my friends, I had no clue where we went.

这就进入苏州轨道交通。 

Here is our friends with us on the test rides. 

Here are the empty train sections. It won't be this empty again, ever! Okay, maybe during maintenance runs it will be empty. XD

Some sculptures in the rail station to mimic historical building structure in Suzhou (苏州). 

这个艺术作品是模仿苏州古代房子。

Here are the ticket vending machines in the rail station. 

这是卖票的机器。

The gates of the rail station. Looks very much like the ones used here in the SF Bay Area for BART. 

This is to mimic the streams and bridges of Suzhou's ancient style towns. If you know a bit about Suzhou, it is a river town. During ancient times, buildings are generally built near the water. As you will see in later posts, many of the historical districts are still around the rivers. There are many of these types of artworks in the different rail stations. 

这个艺术作品是模仿苏州古代房子。

Here is the train platform area. Unlike BART, the rail transit in Suzhou (苏州) have glass windows and doors to prevent people from falling down. I found similar layout while in Hong Kong (香港). 

You Don't Say! Yes, that is translated correctly.

At one of the rail stations, I decided to get a shot of the city. As you can see the buildings off in the distance is obscured by the smog (pollution). 

中国的雾霾。

Here is a photo of one of the rail stations. 

Now to a place where people rarely get to visit. This is a photo of the main control room for the rail system. They don't usually let people in, but I knew someone.

这是火车控制站。一般的人不能到这里来的。

From what they would tell me, this is one of the world's most high tech control rooms ever! Not sure if that claim is true a false, but the room looks pretty high tech and modern though. 

Now a night photography shot near a mall in Suzhou (苏州) shot as I went to go get dinner. That is smog you are seeing! 

中国的雾霾。

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 31 16 04 N 120 37 39 E

These are all the photos for today. I hope you have enjoyed viewing them. Next time I will continue with more photos from Suzhou, Jiangsu, China (苏州, 江苏, 中国) near a fishing pond. Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Google+. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

我下一次有跟多的苏州一个鱼塘照片。

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Mount Diablo State Park (Part 2)

I know this is way overdue, but back in September of last year, I went to Mount Diablo State Park. Here are some of the photos I took there. I will be splitting them into 2 parts. Sorry for being so late on posting this, I've been busy, and I have way too many photos in my collection I plan on posting I kind of forgot about this. I hope you enjoy viewing these photos. Mount Diablo State Park is located in Contra Costa County, CA.

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To view my best Mount Diablo photos, use this link. to view all of my Mount Diablo photos, use this link.

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Windmills off in the distance. White cast over image due to atmospheric distortion. Tried my best to get the contrast back in the photo. This is a view from the peak of Mount Diablo. 

 Another peak kind of close by. I think those are weather predicting instruments. The background is part of the East Bay in the SF Bay Area. The white cast is due to atmospheric distortion.

Oregon Junco (Junco hyemalis)

View half way down the mountain.

Right after I exited the park, I saw a few deers. They immediately ran off as I tried to take a photo. 

Here is another deer.

Also saw a flock of wild turkeys.

Now I begin with the panoramas I did in the park.

This is a panorama half way up on Mount Diablo.

Here is a panorama on the peak of Mount Diablo. 

These are all the photos I took at Mount Diablo State Park. I hope you have enjoyed viewing them. :) Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Google+. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

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