Many of my classmates used the winter holiday as an opportunity to go back to England, however, I decided I would persevere in the Mainland (apart from my travels in Hong Kong, the Philippines and Taiwan). I can distill my winter experience in China into a few simple photographs.
1.Smog
Friends in Beijing reported the smog there was so thick that it was even smoggy on the underground inside trains. The BBC dubbed the clouds of pollution ‘Airmageddon’ and it certainly felt that way. Everything was engulfed in an impenetrable grey haze that lasted for weeks. According to a Beijing University Director the colder-than-normal conditions and lack of wind heightened the problem. Click here for a collection of phosmography that simply takes your breath away... and fills your lungs with PM2.5.
2. Noise
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| The aftermath of a firecracker explosion |
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| The adverts of a purveyor of noise and misery |
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| Unwanted wake up call |
In a previous post about Chinese New Year traditions, I mentioned firecrackers. OH MY GOD THE NOISE. Stands selling fireworks and firecrackers popped up on every street corner, and on every other street corner, someone else was setting them off. It was just a constant barrage of explosions lasting for days with no apparent regulations on how early or how late they could be set off. On one morning however, firecrackers were not enough, and as you can see from my photograph, a troop of 25 drummers was deployed right under my window. That performance was followed up by an hour of Peking Opera. Never, ever, ever let me spend Spring Festival here again.
1. CCTV
Gotta love CCTV. They put on a Spring Festival TV gala that has become as much of a new year tradition as overindulging on food. I learnt whatever the performance, be it martial arts, ballet, or singing, it is always relevant and necessary to show images of jet fighters and battleships in the background. Maybe throw in an astronaut or two for good measure. Then add some Celine Dion to mix it up a bit.
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