As Seen by TV

We flew from Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) to Da Nang, and then a short 30min drive to the town of Hoi An…… a slightly touristy, but extrememly beauitful town.  The center of the village is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and thus historically preserved… the first night we took some bicycles into the town center, which is where I captured these.

Afterwards, we had some beers at Treat’s Bar for 10,000 VND a bottle… and if that isn’t a reason to come back, I don’t know what is.

During the Chinese New Year holiday we hit up Gao Qiao, located on the northern tip of Pudong, just over an hour north via subway from downtown Shanghai.   Our mission was “Holland Village,” a residential complex built by Dutch architects to reflect living in Holland which is part of the “1 City – 9 Towns” initiative.  On the 20min walk from the metro station to this new town, we were fortunate to follow along a picturesque, and relatively traditional Chinese street. 

A one hour drive east of Shanghai (map) is Zhouzhuang, the “Venice of the East” (although they call a hand-full of other towns the same thing).  So, now I’ve been to the Venice of the East, the Venice of the North (Bruges, Belgium), the other Venice of the North (Amsterdam, Netherlands), Venice Beach (California), and of course, the Venice.

Last weekend, my company had a team-building workshop near this picturesque ancient town (over two and half centuries worth), so the night before I decided to head into the old town and snap some flix…

So I finally got my first taste of the Shanghai 2010 World Expo, which opened back on May 1, and runs until the end of October.  Took a weekday night ticket, in the rain, and there were still massive crowds (June 24th: 447,100 visitors)… I can only imagine what it’s like on a sunny weekend. 

“Better City, Better Life” is the motto, and the site itself is MASSIVE (interactive map).  This first trip was only through [part of] Zone C which houses most of the European Pavilions as well as Canada, US, and Africa.  And to say the Expo has transformed Shanghai city life is quite the understatement: 

• 41 billion US dollars were spent on preparations (more than the 2008 Beijing Olympics);
• 18,000 families & 270 factories were relocated;
• 190+ nations and 50+ world organizations taking part (largest ever);
• Expo site covers 5.28 km², also the largest in Expo history (which equals about 987 football fields including endzones);
• 10,000+ new Shanghai taxis;
• 6 new metro lines;
• 1.7 million volunteers were trained specifically for Expo help;
• 70-100 million visitors are expected to pass through the gates;
•  metal detectors (nuisance!) in every subway station throughout Shanghai; 

The image above (UK Pavilion) is just a taste of the CRAZYNESS that is to come, I took 397 images and am still working through them, so check back soon as I will be updating them below!

Check out these smurf-tastic elevated highways!!

[click to enlarge]

The left image I captured back in September, whereas the right was taken this past weekend.  You can now witness the effect the blue lighting has on the surroundings of the elevated highways.   Standing under these monstrocities is surreal, and because most street lights are tungsten (red-tinted), the mix is quite remarkable.  You won’t hear this from me often, but thank goodness for digital, as color-correting these in a traditional darkroom would be hell.

Elevated, illuminated, and bluer than a Smurfberry milkshake, are Shanghai’s elevated highways.

The first two images are part of the spiralling ramp (because there was no space) leading up to the Nanpu Bridge (best seen from this angle or via satellite…now if only I could get access to the building that photo was taken!).

The second two are of Nanbei Eleveted Road (Nanjing West Road intersection) opposite a mall which only sold fake shoes, clothes, and other goodies like remote-controlled helicopters, shurikens, and brass knuckles.  The blue lights are surreal, and mixed with the tungsten street lights, this photographer had a field day, too bad it was -2C.
No worries, I’ll be bahk.

As for the last image, it was just on the bus I took back home… and considering I never ever take city buses (I’ve been on 4 city buses in the past 10 years), I just had to take a flick (and think of Loelia Ponsonby’s famous quote): “A Man who, beyond the age of 26, finds himself on a bus can count himself as a failure“.