Where on Earth? Week 31: Shenyang, China

by Neil Woodburn on

I’m going to directly quote the words of Gadling reader Sean who responded to Wednesday’s Where on Earth contest with the following:

Well, the polluted sky, vehicles, and signs say it’s in China. The architecture of the left-side building means it’s somewhere north. It’s a big city, and fairly developed, but I know it’s not Harbin. I’ll say Shenyang?

Bingo! This is the most impressive example of deductive reasoning we’ve seen for this feature since Jim nailed the Channel Islands back in Week 15. Great job, Sean!

So yes, folks, it is indeed the northern China city of Shenyang. I spent a few days here on the way to North Korea a couple of weeks ago. There is a sizeable North Korean population here as well as a North Korean consult. It is also one of the few places which has direct flights to Pyongyang–although such flights are rarely full of North Koreans.Shenyang itself is nothing to write home about. Many descriptions I had read about the city before arriving actually incorporated the word “armpit” as an adjective. Sadly, I think they were spot on. Although, Shenyang has a rather impressive Forbidden City, there really isn’t too much else to enjoy other than an outdoor market and an impressive Mao statue. And, perhaps, some tasty restaurants.

I’m sure that someone out there will disagree with me and sing praises to this northern town, and I welcome their insight. Perhaps I just needed to spend more time there. Or, perhaps not.

Photo of the Day (11/07/07)

by Jamie Rhein on

The precision of school kids in China and Taiwan is phenomenal. Yes, the lines are that straight. I wouldn’t say all the time, but I would almost bet on it. If you ever come across a group of school kids during an assembly stop and watch awhile. What a wonderful composition of patterns and symmetry. This particular shot was taken at a school in Shanghai by gorwell48.

***To have your photo considered for Photo of the Day, head to the Gadling Pool at Flickr and post it.***

Dam it, People Move!

by Iva Skoch on

There was an interesting expose on China’s Three Gorges Dam in yesterday’s WSJ (Europe ed.). It looks like up to 4.8 million more people might have to move from the Yangtze River valley because of the dam.

The massive $25B power project, completed last May, has already displaced approximately 1.4 million people, as their land has been submerged because the area behind the dam has filled. When I was there in 2005, the water level was about 132 meters (435 ft.), and it’s now at 157m, and it’s expected to hit 175m in 2009. The reservoir is 640km (400 miles) long (about 1/10th the length of the whole river).

Obviously, the dam is important to China, which needs the power for its growing economy. The dam provides ten times the electricity of the Hoover Dam.

Some frightening stats from the article:

  • 60% of the new shoreline is too steep to farm.
  • the water is moving so slowly behind the dam that the port of Chongqing (seen at right on a “sunny” day) is expected to silt over in ten years. (This is a big deal, considering the size and economic importance of that city, with an estimated at 55 million inhabitants in that economic “municipality.”)
  • the dam is making the local weather even more foggy and humid than before. (ouch.)
  • fish populations are dwindling because of disrupted river flows. (I didn’t see a single living bird, duck, goose, swan, or fish during my days on the Yangtze, so I’m not too surprised.)

Yunnan: The inspiration behind Shangri-la

by Neil Woodburn on

When a specific location proves to be the inspiration behind certain legends or works of art, it suddenly becomes all the more fascinating.

Of course, it helps if the product of this inspiration was, well, something inspiring itself; like Shangri-la, for example.

This mythical paradise was thought to have originated from an untouched section of China where the Himalayas thrust up towards the heavens and the natural beauty is said to be stunning and breathtaking. I have not had the good fortune to visit China’s Yunnan province–the true inspiration for Shangri-la–but a rather enthralling article in the Telegraph now has me salivating at the prospect.

Sadly, what was once a long arduous trek to reach, is serviced these days by a local airport. As a result, the capital of Dayan now sees three million tourists a year. The good news, however, is that few venture into the wilds beyond as journalist Katherine Tanko discovers while gallivanting about the region. In the process, she also learns if the nature itself isn’t paradise, the prices are. Tanko paid just $12 a night for room and board. Now that, folks, is my definition of Shangri-la.

The challenges of foreign language menus: Or, how one restaurant in Moscow got away with serving dog to its customers

by Neil Woodburn on

Have you ever sat in a foreign restaurant with a poorly translated English menu and wondered why it looks so much shorter than the non-translated menu. Are there more dishes for the locals? Are the prices cheaper? Man, I’m always curious what I’m missing whenever this happens to me abroad!

Well, now I’m a lot more concerned after learning that a Chinese restaurant in Moscow has been shut down for serving dog meat. Sure, the Chinese language menu clearly stated that it was dog–a delicacy in parts of Asia–however, the same dish on the menu translated into local Russian stated that the meat was lamb.

To make things worse, the owners of the restaurant were procuring their dog meat from the large amount of strays wandering around Moscow. In fact, according to a Moscow Times interview with the local police spokesman, the only reason the owners were caught was because someone “reported seeing a truck pull up to the restaurant and restaurant employees unloading bags in which something was moving and whining.”

So, let that be a lesson to you; learn to read foreign language menus or at least avoid those restaurants in which the food is still whining when it arrives through the back door.