Photo Essay: An Ancient Confucius International School, an Ancient Town, and Grapes
Photo Essay: An Ancient Confucius International School, an Ancient Town, and Grapes
This was previously posted on the Front Page under the Photography and Arts Forum more than two years ago, but many may not have seen it. I have re-edited the photos and improved their presentation. The photos were taken the morning before we spent the afternoon at the Tao temple, about which my photo essay was posted a few days ago. As I indicated on that essay, it was a dull day, but it was a really interesting morning - in particular the shops contained fascinating products, as you will see.
1 We passed a vinyard, and decided to take a look. It was not like your ordinary row of supported vines. It was covered, very modern and the grapes were ripe.
2 My wife thought they were pretty good, so we bought some to take home.
3 The main gate to the Confucius school. A number of years ago a very rich Chinese man donated the equivalent of US$2M to purchase the land and construct the buildings.
4 I think it might have been the first one - now they're located around the world, including the USA.
5 What it was like at the very beginning.
6 The windows in the buildings are magnificent
7 Enough school - this wasn't to be a busman's holiday (I was giving private English lessons at the time). We enter the ancient village here. The school is on the outskirts of this village.
8 There are some beautiful decorative plaques on the walls.
9 Many stores had outdoor statuary, concrete planters, etc. out front.
10 The big bowl in the bottom right corner of the photo above shows a strange green plant growing in the water, as shown here. Two NT members who saw this article previously indicated that it was a Water Hyacinth.
11 Some stores are guarded by Foo Dogs (but they're still for sale). The Chinese are safe if these guard their homes or businesses. No need for an AR 15,
12 Too much fattening food, I guess.
13 This store looks interesting - let's go inside.
14 Many things I've not seen elsewhere.
15 You may find antiques in Canada and the USA that are a couple of hundred years old, or if imported from western countries, then perhaps 18th century, but here they could be a couple of thousand years old.
16 I guess we disturbed this person's lunch.
17 Okay, we go looking for another interesting store, past this array.
18 Now THIS one has some interesting stuff - is that a blender on the table?
19 If I had an outdoor garden I'd want to buy this one.
20 Or if you're looking for something colourful....
21 Many wooden implements
22 Although these wooden toys are contemporary, they could be replicas of more ancient ones.
23 The last store for today - let's go inside.
24 And that's it for today.
Hope you enjoyed the tour.
If you ejoyed the tour, please let me know - even with a thumbs up on this comment, so I will know it's worth while putting these photo essays together and posting them.
I think I forgot to give a thumbs up or comment on the last tour.
You're forgiven.
"Worthwhile" would be an understatement … your photo essays make The NewsTalkers stand out prominently, distinctively and make us proud!
Thank you A.Mac. Your photos do the same.
ENJOYED THE TOUR
They're always worth putting up Buzz, and not just for those, like me, who are heavily into history. Beauty should always be exposed to the light.
As Confucius said: "Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it."
Perhaps he should have extended that to say that not everyone looks for it as well.