Hopsan (Iron) Bridge in Kaiping

Hopsan (Iron) Bridge, located at the border between Bahop and Hinkong townships in Kaiping, was built in 1934.

Kaiping, 2011

Several years earlier, Wong Le Yung, a Kaiping student studying in Japan, started a fund raising campaign to build this bridge. By 1934, he raised 16,200 silver dollars. With a local design, they bought steel from Germany to build this iron truss bridge without pillar supports, a great architectural achievement here at the time.

The length of the bridge is 67 meters and the width 9.5 meters.

Stories were told that the Japanese tried to bomb the bridge to stop the movements of the anti-Japanese guerillas during the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), but their planes failed to find the bridge.

I am not clear whether the locks were built at the same tme, but my guess would be that they were a more recent addition.

A plaque on this tower says that the local government declared the Hopsan Bridge a heritage site in 1983. This is my contribution to Sunday Bridges.

The view from the bridge overlooks some run-down factory buildings I'd guess to be from the 1960s, except for that brand new blue roof. With the soft light of the setting sun, it gave me my shot for Weekend Reflections.

Ugly Ducks Reflected

Even ugly is in the eyes of the beholder, but these two ducks sitting on an air pump on a fish pond in Kaiping sure won't win any awards for beauty from me!

Kaiping, 2012

Joining reflections seekers at Weekend Reflections and animal lovers at Camera Critters.

Smoke in a Rice Paddy

Kaiping, 2010

Joining the meme communities at Weekend Reflection and Weekend in Black and White.

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I have almost reached my goal of raising enough funds on my blog to get two children to STOP working in the charcoal factory in the Manila squatter community called Ulingan and START going to school. I am so grateful to those who have contributed so far or have left words of care and encouragement.

Project PEARLS estimates there are 300+ school-aged children in Ulingan. Last year, 62 children were sponsored for kindergarten, elementary and secondary school scholarships. This year they aim to keep these children in school and send another 90+.

Can you chip in $5, $10, $20 or whatever to complete my drive? You can securely donate using the form on the top right sidebar.

Our few dollars added together to make this gift of education and hope will have an enormous impact on the future of these children.

You can read more about the children of Ulingan and the Project PEARLS scholarship program in my earlier posts (especially here and here) and much more directly on their website.

Kaiping Street Scene Reflected

Kaiping, 2012

This may be a capture that only a die-hard reflection seeker can appreciate. What you see here is a street scene (and yours truly) wonkily reflected in a large steel column and a bookstore window in the town of Kaiping, Guangdong. It's a bit warped... maybe like my sense of humor.

Linking with James' Weekend Reflections.

Face Cream Ad Mural

Just a couple of months ago on one of our walks around Kaiping, on an otherwise unremarkable back street that would not see much traffic, I spotted this advertising painted on a brick wall. Both the ad mural and the jar of face cream sure have a pleasing vintage feel to it.

Yet I'm not very tempted to go look for this face cream touted as ...(f)ace cream dressing table companion....

The three large Chinese characters translate to snowflake cream, a term my honey figures someone came up with in the 20s or 30s to mean lotion.

Kaiping, 2012

A longer view of the street:

This post is linked to Monday Mural.

Kaiping Bridge

For Sunday Bridges I want to give you a better view of the bridge in yesterday's reflection shot.

Kaiping, 2012

Unfortunately, other than its name, I know nothing about Kaiping Bridge except that it spans the Tanjiang River, which you can see here is rather wide.

Oh, I also know that at night the bridge puts on an amazing light show. When we walked past it last night, I could swear they've added even more lights than when I posted it earlier.

I took these three photographs yesterday. It's hard to tell when the sky is still foggy, but it was a balmy, sunny spring day. 

Again, what is interesting about these boats is that they are made of molded concrete.

Tanjiang River Houseboats Reflected

These are houseboats anchored on Tanjiang River as it runs through Kaiping. What makes these houseboats different is that they are made of concrete, not wood or steel.

I am back in Kaiping now; however the photo was taken just before Chinese New Year when auspicious red couplets were posted on entryways to homes everywhere (more on that topic a few days ago).

Kaiping, 2012

I'm linking with reflection seekers at Weekend Reflections.

The bridge behind them is the same one I showed at night all lit up here.

Lucky Entrance

I've shown before on this blog that in the southern Guangdong town of Kaiping you can still find old time Chinese charm and culture, even if you have to hunt for it, like for a treasure in a flea market. And you're more likely to stumble across charm, even if it's faded charm, in the older villages that are simply surrounded by modern urban sprawl (as you can see in my previous post).

It is in one such village that I found these pretty hand-painted ceramic tiles of plants and nature scenes (better viewed enlarged).

 Kaiping, 2012

Since the painting is not done directly on the wall, I hope I'm not stretching the definition of mural too much by offering these tiles to the community at Monday Murals. (Do click the link and go check out other amazing wall paintings from around the globe.)

If these tiles please you, you may also like others I've posted.

The paintings decorate the main entrance to an early 20th century gray-brick home quite typical in the region. The old wood door may be of interest to the folks at Monday Doorways. (If you like doors, head on over.)

Since we were in Kaiping over this past Lunar New Year (a multi-day celebration, much like Christmas in the West), the traditional chunlian - a couplet with an auspicious message for the new year - flanked the entrance. Reading first the right poster from top to bottom, the text on this couplet says:

Coming in and out safely with everything accomplished
Pursuing wealth without obstacles with profit arriving from all directions

Over the door, the large character (fook) means blessing or good fortune.

These new year posters are offered to seekers of signs at Signs, Signs. (You know the drill, right?)

You may also notice the fresh tangerine orange and lettuce hanging on the hook. Such bundles of fruit and/or vegetables too are customary for Cantonese speakers; the food may either have a symbolic meaning, or the spoken character for the food is close to an auspicious word. Here the character for tangerine (gut) is pronounced the same as the character for luck/propitious (gut), and lettuce (sanchoi) sounds like giving birth (in other words, bearing offspring).

Since I was behind The Great Firewall of China late January, I take this moment to wish you a comfortable ride on the tail of the dragon to good health and good fortune this Year of the Dragon!

Fence Along Tanjiang River

Along the Tanjiang River in Kaiping is a long stretch of walkway where pedestrians are separated from the river by a unique fence. Here are three shots featuring the fence taken at different times of the day.

 

Kaiping, 2011

In this last photo you see a boat-shaped restaurant that I first posted here.

The fence is for Friday Fences.

The sunset is for Skywatch Friday.

The reflections are for Weekend Reflections.

The fence shadow is for Sunday Shadows.

I am returning to Kaiping early next week, so after this weekend my posting and blog hopping will be interrupted until I find a way to pierce the Great Firewall of China... or leave China. I can always be reached by email.

Location... the red bubble marks the spot:

Tanjiang Bridge at Night

This is again the bridge over the Tanjiang River I posted last week. At night it tells quite a different story, don't you agree? [Click to enlarge for full view.]

 Kaiping, 2011

For Weekend Reflections and Sunday Bridges.

Reflections on a Bridge

Back in January of this year, we saw this bridge under construction near where we were staying in Kaiping. It was in fact a reconstruction of an old one. It is called the Tanjiang Bridge.

Kaiping, 2011

By October when we went back it was completed and in operation. I learned that this 328 meter long bridge with six lanes was opened to traffic on June 22. The reconstruction had started in July 2009.

The towers on the bridge symbolize the watch towers for which this county is famous.

On the bridge I found a "selfie" reflection for Weekend Reflections. The bridge joins Sunday Bridges.

Boys, Bicycles and a Footbridge of Misfortune

 Kaiping, 2011

These boys taking a rest with their bicycles gave me some nice reflections and shadows for Weekend Reflections and Shadow Shot Sunday.

They were whizzing around on this large open space in a city park. Across the river, the white building, is Kaiping People's Hall, the seat of the municipal government.

Local friends told us that ever since the footbridge was built in the 1990s, all leading officials - mayors and party secretaries - have ended up being charged with malfeasance. The reason they are caught, the story goes, is that the footbridge is shaped like handcuffs and contravenes basic principles of feng shui (wind-water; loosely meaning geomancy).

[Enlarge for panoramic view.]

The footbridge joins Sunday Bridges.

Lights Overkill

It looks like some people think that just because LED lighting is cheaper and more energy efficient it should be used... everywhere!

Kaiping, 2011

This nameless bridge in Kaiping crosses an artery of the Tanjiang River.  
[Better viewed enlarged.]

I'm linking with Weekend Reflections and Sunday Bridges.

Solid Playmates

 You are worried about seeing him spend his early years in doing nothing. What! Is it nothing to be happy? Nothing to skip, play, and run around all day long?  Never in his life will he be so busy again.

~ Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Genevan philosopher, 1712-1778

 We spend the first twelve months of our children's lives teaching them to walk and talk and the next twelve years telling them to sit down and shut up.

~ Phyllis Diller, American comedian, 1917-

Kaiping, 2011

Children's games are hardly games. Children are never more serious than when they play. 

~ Michel de Montaigne, French writer, 1533-1592

I captured these children at play in a park in Kaiping a few weeks ago. Linking with Our World Tuesday.

P is for Painting

A few weeks ago on a pleasant not-too-hot, not-yet-wet, fall day, my honey and I borrowed two bikes and rode out of the town we use as home base in Kaiping into the countryside to get a closer look at a couple of the nearby old villages we had so often passed by car.

This is the front of one of several villages we explored a bit. There were old gray-bricked houses, as well as a couple of new tiled ones. Aesthetically I much prefer the old houses.

Kaiping, 2011

What I found especially attractive here were the hand-painted scenes that adorn many of the doors and a few walls. On the doors of this first house you see a traditional auspicious spring couplet that reads (roughly translated):

Everything under the sun is glowing

The spring sun is spreading virtuous luster

The meaning of the couplet depends on the reader's own state of mind.
 

In this close-up you can see more painting on the ceiling and the permanent hooks meant to hold festival lanterns.

Another close-up of an old house's intricately painted entryway:

New houses built with cement and tiles, more often than not paid for by a migrant working - or family living - overseas, still keep the village tradition.

 

This next image gives you a closer look at the painting, as well as the good luck bundle hanging from the hook. This bundle typically consists of fruits and other edibles which in Chinese sound auspicious, like luck, wealth or longevity.

 

These paintings are for ABC Wednesday, where the letter today is P.

I share with you one more close-up from this village that shows more lovely ways the old gray houses are adorned.

The sore behinds we got from the hours of bicycling were well worth seeing these (and many other) treasures we discovered by taking it in at a slower speed.

Old Movie Town

Downstream from Kaiping on the banks of the Tanjiang River is the historical town of Chikan. The charming streets of the old town, parts of which go back 350 years, have long been used as backdrop in Chinese movies. There is even a movie studio where hundreds of blockbusters have been produced.

Kaiping County, 2007

I am joining Weekend Reflections, Weekend in Black and White and Sunday Bridges. [You can enlarge the image with a click.]

Stroll in the Park Reflected

Kaiping, 2011

On the edge of the park along the Tanjiang River running through the town of Kaiping is this restaurant built to appear like a ship. Its colored glass revealed interesting patterns and shapes. Linked with the communities at Weekend Reflections and Weekend in Black and White.

B is for Bench

For ABC Wednesday I am offering a series of benches for the letter B that I photographed last week while visiting friends in a town along the Tanjiang River in Kaiping County . 

The photos pretty much speak for themselves. I do think each bench has its own special character that shows off better in a monochrome image (and if you have the time, enlarging the smaller photos tells a better story).

 

 

Kaiping, 2011