

Chinese Architecture, Old and New - thingummywut
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012/11/chinese-architecture-old-and-new/100409/

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moonboots
As a side note, I love the slideshow UI. The keyboard navigation (j/k or
left/right) brings each picture flush against the top of the screen. I hate
when I need to manually scroll down to bring the picture into full view and
hide the navigation boilerplate, especially when a site uses full page
refreshes instead of ajax. Unlike more interactive slideshows, this page still
works normally without javascript or if the user just prefers scrolling.

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espitia
I've been living in China for the past 4 months and plan on staying until May.
It really is two different worlds. Having traveled through the more modern
cities (Shanghai and Beijing for example) and contrasting those to Hangzhou
that I'm currently in, it truly is marvelous to see the progress and more
importantly the WHY to all this. The Chinese culture and gives one a fresh
outlook on life. I would recommend anyone and everyone to take a trip here, it
is really inexpensive and very much worth it.

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firefoxman1
Is it necessary to speak the language to get by for a couple weeks?

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dvdhsu
It really depends where you go. If you're in the big cities (Beijing,
Shanghai, Hangzhou, Hefei, etc.), you'll be fine without Chinese. If you go
into more rural areas, Chinese would certainly help, but you'll certainly
still be able to buy food, live in hotels, and ask for directions (look for
the younger crowd; they've had mandatory English classes).

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seanmcdirmid
You need some Chinese to get around in Beijing. Shanghai is much better,
however. First time I've heard of Hefei referred to as a tier 1 city!

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firefoxman1
Thanks for the info, both of you. Much appreciated!

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civilian
#12 "An emblem decorates the pavement" ?? Excuse me, that's Roman Imperial
emblem. I hope the journalist just skipping that for the sake of copy, rather
than ignorance.

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nachteilig
Since the picture is described as "inside a building designed to look like a
Roman Colosseum", I think the viewer can probably figure that out.

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vsloo
So many contradictions. So many sorrows. So much progress. So many regrets. So
much ignorance. So many hopes. So many disappointments. So much glamour. So
much denial. So many inconsistencies. So China...

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jianshen
I just visited Shenzhen for the first time and was quite overwhelmed by the
scale of construction that's going on in China.

This timelapse video does a good job of capturing that feeling:
<https://vimeo.com/53043267>

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akandiah
I wonder how many Chinese can afford to live in any of these new buildings.

Some context: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbDeS_mXMnM>

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yaix
Unfortunately, many "historic" buildings in China are not. They are not
reconstructed but destroyed and cheaply rebuild in concrete and then painted.
Be it historic pagodas, city walls, monuments, temples, etc. Quickly build it
so that it looks old and then make money from tourism. Its a shame.

[Lived in China six years, traveled the country for another six months]

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arjn
I dont like all the new fancy-schmancy stuff. These cities are going to end up
looking like any other modern/western city anywhere. No character left. Is
anyone looking out for historically significant buildings ?

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fuzzythinker
Love the library, and how it doesn't use/have electricity.

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firefoxman1
Wow, picture 9 looks straight out of an Orwell story.

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arethuza
You mean the Road to Wigan Pier?

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Road_to_Wigan_Pier>

