Jonathan Biddle – Made in Taiwan

Tag: Water Town

Nanxun – Water Town

Reflections

After spending Saturday in the factory, I was keen to get out of Shanghai and see some sights. Initially thinking of heading to Suzhou or Wuxi, I came across this article on water towns, and opted instead to tick another one off the list; especially since I enjoyed visiting Tongli and Zhouzhuang so much. Nanxun, which I hadn’t heard of before, topped the list.

Enlisting a newly moved-to-Shanghai Drew, we headed West. Two or so hours from Shanghai by car (yes we were lazy), it’s a place that must surely arrive soon on the Chinese tourist map – the new motorway heading out in that direction guarantees it. However, for now, it seems that the crowds have not yet arrived, and we were pleasantly surprised by how quiet the place was.

Pleasant surprise soon gave way to broad grins, however. The state of preservation felt like it could have been a real live water town just weeks before, boats carrying silk yarn merely taking their Sunday rest. The people were warm and friendly, the scenery preposterously beautiful, and by the end we simply felt lucky to have been able to visit such an historic town that still housed a real community of people. Unfortunately, I am sure the youth will not want to return and it’s likely that if I ever return tourist shops will have replaced the townhouses by the river.

But how about a Bali-style retreat of river-side escapes, two hours from the city? I can see it now.

What’s for dinner? – Visiting the library

Two lovely ladies that virtually chewed our ears off upon discovery that we spoke Chinese. Charming!

Sucker for patinas of use.

Stylish man with cell phone

View up the first of the side-canals. We meant to catch a boat at some point, but in the end the guys on bikes won out!

Can’t resist peeking into the side streets

Handsome hat seller

Red lanterns, reflected

Textures

This guy … how sartorial!

I mean really

He kept on appearing in photos, as if someone was paying him to walk by.

The mop project continues

There he is again

No matter where I go in the world, there are always groups of old men hanging out, drinking, playing games, riding motorbikes, gambling … I am sure I will be the same some day.

Pixelated … a designer definitely sweated the details on that top rivet

View up the main section of the river

Watching the world go by

Pleasing mixtures of colours

‘Jonny, you arrange your images into graphic design layouts’ – according to Drew … he is absolutely right. I do – that’s what happens when you have a graphics designer for a Mum.

At first, we thought this guy was going to be your normal tourist trap pusher, but he turned out to have a real sense of humour and amazing idea of the photos that we wanted to take. I suppose with all the visitors, you get photographic training for free!

Resting, away from the rain.

I always enjoy it when it rains in a new place … interesting to see how people react.

Gone Fishin’

Lots of people peeking out to catch a glimpse of the funny foreigners … not sure how much longer these guys will be here. I imagine it will all be tourist shops if I ever come back.

Pointing out the birds nest above our heads.

Across the river

Drew and I could not believe our luck at being here – truly a great experience.

Like a scene from a movie

Checking to see if the rain has stopped

Red shorts

Neighbours

My best mop image to date

This character had me giggling – doing his afternoon exercises while the rain had paused.

One of the pleasingly semi-circular bridges

Rain adding a certain something to the wet roofs.

Our guy, very pleased with a highly-inflated tip!

2013/06/24
Tongli – Water Town

Escaping Shanghai is always a challenge, but as I have highlighted in previous posts, the HSR service heading out to Nanjing is opening up the entire Yangtze corridor.

This time with my manager, Paul, in tow, we headed out on Sunday to Suzhou station, and a cab to take us out to Tongli, a so-called ‘water town‘. While I supposed it would be similar to Zhouzhuang, which I visited last year, I enjoyed that trip enough to warrant another try.

Claiming 1000 years of history, the town is criss-crossed with canals and viaducts. It does not claim to be the largest or most famous of the water towns, and as a result the level of tourism does not quite meet the levels of Zhouzhuang, at least when I visited. And while there are no doubt touristic areas, it’s striking how many people still live and work in the town; it naturally gives the place a different vibe. Unlike many places in China, there seemed to be an uncanny amount of cleaning going on; after a few minutes of shooting photographs, I realised that almost all my photos featured mops or brooms somewhere in the background. Sipping a beer by the banks of the river, we also amused ourselves as we watched old ladies sweep fallen leaves into the river, and then the men fishing them out again to be disposed of.

First of a series of photos I call the 'Mop Project'

As I have said before, I am a sucker for all graffiti in China and Asia.

At first, I thought the piles of wood outside the shops might be for sale, but then I realised these were the shop shutters; rather more charming than electric roller shutters that will no doubt replace them some day.

I call this 'Mops & Shutters'

Afforementioned shutters, before a store opens.

A very fancy blue bike.

Waiting for the end of the day.

Organisation

Mops were hung, cantilevered, and propped up in all manner of ways.

I really did take a lot of photos of shutters. I like that there are both Chinese and Roman numerals on these boards.

Several times, groups of giggling local girls asked for our photos (convinced we were brothers); we naturally obliged, but not without taking some 'meta photos' first.

Running back to Mamma.

Roofs, augmentation, nice building materials.

I couldn't resist this one. How kind to choose a completely non-matching piece of fabric to patch the hole.

More mops; modern this time.

Waiting for … something.

Shoes stored neatly away.

I rather liked this non-recycle sign.

Restaurants lined the canals. Perhaps as a result of the cool, sunny weather, I was rather taken with this place.

Back passage.

Umbrellas provide shade in the summer.

If I had been a bit quicker, I would have caught this policeman handling a plastic gun. Next time.

The town was definitely a bit sleepy, but all the more pleasant for it. I wonder if their children, no doubt working in Shanghai now, will return here any day.

Grumpy.

This guy was terribly proud of his bird collection, and was delighted that I might take a photo of them.

One more for the road.

One of the local boats, plying their trade on the river.

So that was it – a great escape from Shanghai!

Getting To Tongli

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Basically, take the HSR out to Suzhou (about 40 RMB, 24 minutes), run past the hawkers trying to sell trips to the sights in Suzhou, wait in the line for a taxi, take the 30 ish minute trip out to Tongli (about 90 – 100 RMB) and enjoy. We also did not have any problems getting back.

2011/04/10
Zhouzhuang – Water Town

After several years of trying (admittedly, probably not trying hard enough), I finally made it to one of the ‘Water Towns’ in the Jiangsu province, near to Shanghai. The whole country had come to a stop to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, which I understand indirectly commemorates overthrow of Mongol rule (although I have never quite understood the full background of the story).

Zhouzhuang is proudly titled ‘Venice of the East’, though it should be noted that along with nearby Tongli, Wuzhen and Zhujiajiao, seventeen places also make the same claim. According to Wikipedia, seven places also call themselves Paris of the East, but since Casablanca is actually further west, I don’t think these claims hold much water.

The massive expanses of coastal plain around Kunshan and Shanghai are perfect for mega-scale manufacturing sites, but you can forget escaping it with the same ease that one can in Hong Kong or Taipei; places like this are normally bulldozed to make way for factories, well, making parts for computers. So, while the weather was suffering as a result of a Typhoon hitting Taiwan, and there were a couple too many tour groups led by leaders with loudhailers and flags, it made for a thoroughly pleasant break from the grind of factory visits and sitting in offices waiting for parts to be spat out of a machine.

A girl poses beside one of the bridges.

While the towns are increasingly pure tourist centres, some people are evidently still going about their daily business, and there are still signs that people still live there.

One of several temples in the town – the number of temples and religious establishments here are dramatically less than in Taiwan; indeed, one Chinese person quipped to me ‘Taiwan has too much religion. And too many dogs.”

Falling in line with my Rules of Graphics Design: there is no logo that cannot be improved with lightening bolts.

Mirror evidence I think of some subtle Fengshui at work.

Boats on the river ply their trade (of tourists).

Hide-out.

Back garden.

My obsession with shooting windows and doors continues.

Toys on display on the street.

Modification of the roofs for modern conveniences.

Super shapes.

Laid out bare.

I watched for a while this mysterious hand sell traditional toys on the street.

This shop, as far as I can tell, sells round things.

More roof details.

I got a serious earful from the lady on the left before, during and after taking this photo.

Ladies wot lunch.

Monkeying around.

Portraits of eminent leaders … but can you spot some of the others in the background? …

2010/09/22