In what I hope will become the first of many installations, this week’s post aims to better capture the essence of space through photographs, enhancing the portrayal of Shanghai for readers through images (in case I wasn’t sufficiently doing that through previous posts, better safe than sorry). I’ve begun with this first set of photos by capturing a few local spots, in and around the Fudan campus, my dormitory, and the adjoining streets. And I threw on a few parting shots of the city skyline to ground this post in the city at large.
It was a beautiful day today. Spring is nearly here. I’ve written this short intro from a rigid chair out on my balcony. It’s too high up to hear the hum drum of street-level noises, conversations, bicycle bells, and the like, but two things pierce through that clutter and echo up clearly to me on the 20th floor: car horns and birds. As you may have heard, car horn blasting is ritual, done regardless of necessity, but done so frequently that I sort of tune it out. The birds’ singing however is relatively new, presumably coinciding with the arrival of warmer air. And it’s a welcome sign, reminding me that I was in fact pooped on by a bird last week (and not something else, as I sort of feared), and that they seem relatively undeterred by the smog, which I’ll say it again, isn’t so bad here.
The following are mostly pictures of today’s wanderings. Enjoy!
It was a beautiful day today. Spring is nearly here. I’ve written this short intro from a rigid chair out on my balcony. It’s too high up to hear the hum drum of street-level noises, conversations, bicycle bells, and the like, but two things pierce through that clutter and echo up clearly to me on the 20th floor: car horns and birds. As you may have heard, car horn blasting is ritual, done regardless of necessity, but done so frequently that I sort of tune it out. The birds’ singing however is relatively new, presumably coinciding with the arrival of warmer air. And it’s a welcome sign, reminding me that I was in fact pooped on by a bird last week (and not something else, as I sort of feared), and that they seem relatively undeterred by the smog, which I’ll say it again, isn’t so bad here.
The following are mostly pictures of today’s wanderings. Enjoy!
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| Bicycles outside the entrance of the foreign student's dormitory, my building |
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| Chinese pudgster with his Popsicle overlooking the coy pond by the student canteen |
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| Fudan's sidewalks are strewn with propaganda style banners, but not always from propaganda style purposes |
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| Chinese mailbox, trashcan, and phone booth, a functional street corner |
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| Side entrance to the student canteen on campus, late night hours posted above the entryway |
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| Inside this dilapidated complex is an excellent Japanese sake bar |
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| Hippie bus, Seoul to Shanghai, now housing a Korean barbeque dining area |
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| Local shops within the campus |
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| My favorite convenience store, good for cheap coffee (believe it or not) and baozi, breakfast dumplings |
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| Side entrance to an administrative building on campus |
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| The oldest building on campus, built in 1927 |
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| Student cyclists |
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| Mao, welcoming visitors by Fudan's main gate |
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| Students enjoying the Sunday sunshine in front of the Guanghua building on campus |
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| Kids behind the campus guards |
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| An apartment block above a supermarket outside the campus gates |
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| Good for sandwiches and pizza, caters to the foreign student crowd |
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| Korean BBQ joint on University Ave |
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| Local fruit market outside campus |
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| Typical shops on a side street by the campus |
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| Not an attractive photo, the magnetic tracks used to shoot the Maglev train to and from Pudong Int. Airport |
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| A banquet style dinner, with friends at a Henan restaurant for a friend's birthday |
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| An interesting duo within the mall by my workplace |
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| A clear shot of the Pudong skyline at dusk |
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| The same shot, panorama style |
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