China Romance
All About China => Photos From China => Topic started by: brett on May 17, 2013, 09:32:21 am
-
I know you guys love looking at photos, so here are some photos from Guangzhou.
Well if you've never been here before, China is probably the busiest place ever. And Guangzhou is the busiest city in China:
(http://forum.asianloveconnections.com/images/Busy-China-Overpass.jpg)
More hawkers and general chaos. In the background is a pretty busy bus. In all my time here, I've NEVER seen a bus driver refuse passengers entry to a bus. A bus can NEVER be full here, unlike back home in England!
(http://forum.asianloveconnections.com/images/Guangzhou-Street-Hawkers.jpg)
Raw capitalism is alive and well here:
(http://forum.asianloveconnections.com/images/Two-Young-Chinese-Girls.jpg)
Guangzhou station - millions of migrant workers have started their new lives as city dwellers here (and it's no fun being stuck behind them as they try to figure out the metro gates!!!!)...
(http://forum.asianloveconnections.com/images/Guangzhou-Station-Night.jpg)
And a bit more about where I'm living...
I'm living in Baiyun, which is a less prosperous part of town. Much of it looks like this:
(http://forum.asianloveconnections.com/images/Guangzhou-Street.jpg)
Although the part closer to me doesn't have the luxury of tarmac on the street!
And here's the view from my apartment building over Baiyun mountain. Notice how dark it is? Well it's actually 2pm, but a ferocious thunderstorm has rolled in...
(http://forum.asianloveconnections.com/images/Baiyun-Mountain.jpg)
Finally I often see stuff in China which just makes me want to laugh my ass off...
(http://forum.asianloveconnections.com/images/Panda-Ride.jpg)
-
Brings back memories. I was walking those same streets and sidewalks just 4 months ago. I almost miss the place. I guess I need to go back for a few weeks to get the smell back on my clothes.
Thanks for the photos.
-
Brett , great photos , from an unreal city , regards Sujuan and Robert .
-
Brett, I hope you don't mind me sharing your thread from Guangzhou.
Not sure if you saw the video I made just before I left China. But today my wife was browsing a website in China and discovered MY video. I am surprised but they have been sharing it over there. people in China like this video. ;-)
http://youtu.be/zG4eoONlutE (http://youtu.be/zG4eoONlutE)
-
haha I watched several of your videos. The one of a shopping trip through the streets...totally wore me out, as my senses were over worked!
-
Did you see the Guangzhou traffic jam. It is horrible at certain times of day. We were in Tianhe and needed to got to Baiyun. Al major streets were gridlocked and we needed to get home. We hopped on the back of one of those rickshaw motor cycles and sped down side streets at 50 mph. http://youtu.be/igct58w1Rok (http://youtu.be/igct58w1Rok)
-
Well I see your time in China was well filled. I liked the mixture of stills and live. It worked well with the music.
Willy
-
I should take a few videos when I'm out and about. People fighting to board a bus could have been a classic. And I must take a video of the clothes wholesale market I found once. It was absolute chaos and I got moved on several times, maybe I wasn't supposed to be there or something, who knows.
And as for the traffic, I no longer have a TV because a 2RMB bus ride in a thunderstorm at night is all the excitement you'll ever need here. How the bus avoids all those cyclists going the wrong way is a complete mystery. Yeah, 5000 years of civilization and they have yet to invent the bicycle light.
I'll miss this place, and I might even miss the creatures that live in my kettle ;D ;D ;D ;D.
-
Those are great photos. I know exactly where you were in some of them. I have actually stood where you were standing when you took the photo at the train station. Post some more photos and videos. My wife enjoys them too.
-
OK, I watched the motor scooter taxi ride video. All you needed was a small cooler with a few beers, but seeing that you were filming...your other hand was likely hanging on for dear life!
-
OK, I watched the motor scooter taxi ride video. All you needed was a small cooler with a few beers, but seeing that you were filming...your other hand was likely hanging on for dear life!
Either that or protecting the Crown Jewels as we say in UK. ;D
Willy
-
Some photos of my apartment. It's very basic because it's in a student apartment building. But it's actually the same price as the on-campus accommodation, but I actually get my own room here, whereas students have to share! Also the University is very strict regarding alcohol, late returns to the dorms etc. etc..
I'm paying 1200RMB a month for this (1500 when you include all bills, including Internet). Smaller rooms in the same building are cheaper.
Basic Chinese hard bed:
(http://forum.asianloveconnections.com/images/Chinese-Apartment-Bed.jpg)
I've since added a mosquito tent and mattress topper.
I actually have 2 bedrooms, but this is the master bedroom if you like - it has aircon:
(http://forum.asianloveconnections.com/images/Chinese-Basic-Apartment.jpg)
I've since swapped the stool for a chair!
Basic kitchen. I've since added a kettle (65RMB) and slow cooker (48RMB) and a chopping board! The slow cooker is great for making soup and also pasta. I eat out sometimes, especially when meeting ladies. But cooking at home is cheaper plus you don't have the hassle of the sometimes very slow service in restaurants!
(http://forum.asianloveconnections.com/images/Chinese-Apartment-Kitchen.jpg)
Washroom/toilet:
(http://forum.asianloveconnections.com/images/Chinese-Apartment-Toilet-Washroom.jpg)
I took the photo when I moved in - I've cleaned it a bit since then! My 2 bed apartment was previously occupied by 3 students from Laos.
I spend a lot of time cleaning the place - it's a real battle living in a place where stuff goes mouldy and wildlife moves in so quickly. And the average shirt lasts a couple of hours before it needs washing again.
But incidentally, this place is immaculate compared to some of the places the estate agent took me round! Maybe Willy has similar real estate horror stories from China!!!
-
No Brett. The first place I moved into was in Zhuhai and was in its own complex overlooking the swimming pool. That was pricey at 2400 rmb a month.
Then I came to Zhongshan and took another 2 bedroom place in an complex for 1200 rmb a month Squat toilet just like yours. Nice place and is in the same complex that we bought our place. But I do miss the squatty ::)
Better not get back onto toilets again. ;D
Willy
-
Willy? Are you saying that you miss the squirts... I mean squats?
-
I cant do the squat. Well I can in an emergency but I don't like to. . I am afraid of loosing my balance and falling. In my apartment I paid 700 RMB to have the floor tore up and a real toilet installed. The landlord was pissed but I told him he didn't need to pay his half. Just like home. :0)
-
And there's nothing like driving that porcelain bus after a night of too much drinkin!
-
There are many ways to deal with the squats. These are often an eye opener for casual visitors because sometimes even the best of homes can have them. An 'eye opener' they may be but usually they are not 'nose closers' although most westerners think of them as so.
You can go to the nearest department store and invest about £16 or $20 in a portable seat system. Only thing in it is set chair height up from the squat and 'accidents' can happen.
However I found the easier solution was to have a stool in the bathroom. A plastic stool that is. Cost about 15 rmb. These come in two sizes, short and chair height.
Use one of the higher ones and place it in front of the squat. Remove all loose objects from your pants as wet money is a job to use in shops, better still remove the pants altogether. Stand astride the squattie. Lower ones body as get it as close to the squattie as possible using the plastic seat in front of you as support.
If more support is needed you can place your chest on the top of the seat. This way if you have drunk too much then you have less height to full from and in fact you will find that quite a comfortable sleeping place as it is a sort of upright feotal position
Then let nature and gravity and too much spices take its course. Scottish Rob shouts this out whenever he goes in one ' Welcome to Squatland.'
But he should try to resist singing 'You take the High Stool and I'll Take the Low Stool and I'll be in Squatland before ye'
But in really bad looking and smelling bathrooms he can be forgiven for giving an occasional rendering of 'Squatland the Brave' as he does a kilted entry into the unknown.
Welcome to Willy's Wonderful World of Squattieland.
Willy
-
Normally I'd say..."too much information" but knowing I have two weak knees which doesn't lend itself very well to squatting...I will consider everything!
Question! Are there P-traps on the plumbing to control odors?
-
Fivetrout.
This is a little standing water in the toilet but it is not always enough to make a good seal. For the sinks and other drains. NOPE !
-
Willy, you really shouldn't pick on Sir Squats a Lot so much.
-
When I stayed at his place last year he was continually going to the toilet with book tucked under his arm.
I thought he was well read but then I noticed he had forgot to bring the book out with him on one occasion. I thought I would see what he was reading. Then I found that he had been standing on a book just so he could reach the target!
(Look even a squat toilet can be a bit high for him).
Willy
-
Question! Are there P-traps on the plumbing to control odors?
Yes, P traps and a Backflow (U shaped outside in the ground) Keep not only odors but more importantly Gases (Carbon monoxide mostly) from entering the home.
Gerry the amount of water in toilets is adjustable. If it has a float type shutoff in the tank. Adjust the float to shut off at a higher point. Make sure the feed hose (small hose) is in or clipped onto the filler tube.
-
Vince.
I was talking about the squat toilet. It did not seal well. It sometimes let gasses back into the house. The standard toilet worked fine.
There was no traps in the sinks or washing machine drains. There was just a hole in the floor that you ran your flex pipe into. I wrapped the end in plastic bags but the smells still came back up into the sink. On a windy day you get quite a variety of fragrances coming into the house. The only way to stop the smells was to put a stopper into the sink drain but you had better not forget.
I contemplated installing traps into the plumbing between the sinks and the drain and sealing up everything leak proof. The trouble with that was that the hole in the floor was not only for the sink but it was also the shower drain and the drain for water that you used to wash down the floor in the kitchen. The best thing to do would be to re-plumb the entire house using western methods but the landlord would never go for that. So we just lived with it.
-
No matter what country, plumbing has to have a vent (usually through the roof). That's how pipes drain. Otherwise it's like filling a straw with a liquid and holding your finger over the top. It stays in the straw (and stays in the drain pipe). Now I have no idea how the plumbing construction is there or even if they go by any codes?
But if the odors are backing into the home? It may not be vented correctly or the vent is to far from the source? (Main drain) I don't know what you can do about it there? Maybe see if the landlord can check the roof vents? Maybe someone closed if off by putting something on top of it like clothes? That's a no cost fix. Another thing might be something got in there and is obstructing the vent? It sounds like the odors are seeking an escape and finds the nearest vent.. your floor drain/sink.
-
Question! Are there P-traps on the plumbing to control odors?
Yes, P traps and a Backflow (U shaped outside in the ground) Keep not only odors but more importantly Gases (Carbon monoxide mostly) from entering the home.
Gerry the amount of water in toilets is adjustable. If it has a float type shutoff in the tank. Adjust the float to shut off at a higher point. Make sure the feed hose (small hose) is in or clipped onto the filler tube.
Vince,
That would work if they had holding tanks for the squat toilets like western toilets do. Many squats do not have holding tanks, most use a simple water valve to supply water as needed or a bucket full of water with a small pail for ladling water as needed to flush. Most only retain a small amount of water after they are flushed due to their design.
-
Vince,
Short of drawing a diagram it is best described as a large cast iron pipe that runs from the sewer to the roof. It is shared by all the apartments on each floor. It serves as both the drain and the vent. In each apartment there are drain connections to it through plumbing in the floor. No p traps of any kind. Just a direct connect so they are directly open to the same gasses that for the most part vent to the roof. Most of the time if you keep the window open the smells don't accumulate but when the wind is blowing right or there is a storm there then the gas and odors back up through the drains and get into the apartment. Traps would solve the problem but they would add too much cost to construction. I don't know how thick the floor is but it is also the ceiling of the apartment below. large pipes and traps would be a problem for them. Another added benefit is that it provides a migration path for the roaches to escape your neighbors bug spray and hide out on another floor until it is safe to go back.
-
Robert, Yes I understood this but it started from Gerry's "This is a little standing water in the toilet but it is not always enough to make a good seal." I assumed he meant a toilet with tank.
Gerry, It could be clogging in the main and the waste doesn't flush away. But that has nothing you can do about it. I had something like that here. But I pull a little weight here being Mayor of the block. lol
I keep all my drains closed for the same reason. There is a large rubber type shower drain cover made that might help? Most places even dollar stores have them here. Maybe you can find it there? These gases (besides the smell) can be dangerous, in health and in flammability.
-
Distressing as it would be to some, the recent video that went world wide of the Chinese fireman rescuing a new born baby that had been flushed down a squattie shows just how the plumbing works in some buildings. It is surprisng just how a baby survived for so long in such a tight place. But there again I suppose he had just spent 9 months in one!
An update on the baby is that he is now called '59' after his incubator number and the hospital is being showered with all things babywise plus cash and offers of adoption.
Willy
-
Distressing as it would be to some, the recent video that went world wide of the Chinese fireman rescuing a new born baby that had been flushed down a squattie shows just how the plumbing works in some buildings. It is surprisng just how a baby survived for so long in such a tight place. But there again I suppose he had just spent 9 months in one!
An update on the baby is that he is now called '59' after his incubator number and the hospital is being showered with all things babywise plus cash and offers of adoption.
Willy
Yep...saw the video on TV...but what intrigues me is how the baby got down there in the first place !!!...nobody mentioned that little detail. Maybe the Mother was washing the baby in the toilet......!!!!!! or something more sinister ??
-
The police are dealing with it as attempted murder. She original suggested that she went to the communal squat toilet and it just popped out. This was until the police and landlord opened up her room to find signs that the child was born there!
Willy
-
Wow, my building's internet breaks for 2 days and my thread turns into a discussion about toilets!
Anyway, baby in u-bend is as big a story in China as it is elsewhere.
Personally I think it's a hoax, most Chinese toilets won't flush paper much less a new born baby!!!!
I forgot to say that China has 5000 years of history but they haven't invented the flushing toilet yet, well at least in my apartment.
I prefer the squat toilets though, they're easier to clean, there's no plumbing for monstrous spiders and insects to hide behind. Plus I've heard they're better for your appendix.
Fortunately it doesn't seem to smell much.