

Chinese families' worldly goods in Huang Qinqjun's pictures - AdamN
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19648095

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AdamN
I remember being up in the Anti-Atlas mountains of Morocco and the family we
had dinner with had satellite TV but no running water. They had news on (Al
Jazeera if I remember - but maybe Al Arabiya or something else - Saddam
Hussein had been killed that night so it was BIG).

Anyway, they had a meat dinner for us as special guests but otherwise mostly
had a vegetarian diet because meat was very expensive. Nonetheless, the TV was
critical for both information and entertainment. They also had cell phones.

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gvb
I saw a TV in 8 of 11 pictures. All the pictures were remarkable in their
austerity. The first picture struck me by the wind generator, satellite dish,
and TV next to the other utilitarian possessions.

Conclusion: information ranks right up there with food and shelter.

~~~
shimon_e
It's entertainment. From my experience in China I've rarely seen a news
channel over a movie. Traditional kung fu style movies are the most common
amongst the older population.

~~~
JohnsonB
Entertainment can be equated to information in a practical sense though.

~~~
batista
No, it really can not.

Except in the Niquist/Shannon sense, or if you work for E channel...

~~~
JohnsonB
Entertainment is a method by which people acquire cultural facts, knowledge,
even wisdom and philosophy. It easily extends to picking up domain specific
knowledge as well, episodes often center around a scientific/technical subject
which allows audiences to pickup a cursory level of knowledge in a subject
otherwise foreign to them. So directly, yes, entertainment=information even in
a very literal sense.

~~~
batista
Probably never watched Chinese TV...

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duskwuff
I'm strongly reminded of Peter Menzel's 1994 book "Material World: A Global
Family Portrait".

<http://www.amazon.com/dp/0871564378>

~~~
davewasthere
On a similar vein, of that photo essay about what the world eats:
[http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1626519,00.htm...](http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1626519,00.html)

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prawn
Meanwhile, I'm spending money just to improve storage of my current things -
kitchen storage, organising everything inside a garage/shed, water tanks, wine
storage, data storage. Yet I am usually happiest digging around in the garden
or checking my plants and seeds every morning to see if they've grown 1mm
overnight.

Great to get perspective and reset once in a while.

I'm keen to read on my e-reader or tablet, and simplify the things around us.
My wife loves the look of books on shelves, "like a library". Instead of
converting old CDs and then storing them away, we have shelves of CDs that
never get touched. Can't win every one of those tame disputes.

~~~
w1ntermute
In that respect, I think I'm fortunate to not have ever built up a collection
of physical media in the first place. Once you start collecting, it's very
hard to let go.

~~~
prawn
I know Wintermute is hardly a unique alias amongst tech readers, but your
initials aren't 'TC' by any chance, are they?

------
bootload
Water, shelter and food covered. Few powered tools (must be fit), hunting
weapons or books. I'd expect a few power tools in a rural setting. A chainsaw
& compressor can be seen in ~
[http://7465558fd9aac3509556-4bd1cc4e7ce85601e6dfb87e971ddf14...](http://7465558fd9aac3509556-4bd1cc4e7ce85601e6dfb87e971ddf14.r0.cf2.rackcdn.com/5294/med_familystuff07heilongjiang-
huangqingjun-jpg.jpg)

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leeoniya
You don't need much. I can fit all my possessions into less than a contractor
van. [http://ecx.images-
amazon.com/images/I/41XCuLPUjsL._SL500_AA3...](http://ecx.images-
amazon.com/images/I/41XCuLPUjsL._SL500_AA300_.jpg)

It would annoy me greatly to own more things than I could keep track of or
haven't used/looked at in the past 12 months.

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shimon_e
Wow. Amazing. Just like my personal experience in China. Now what's up with
all the articles on China today?

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fiatpandas
Are there larger versions of these pictures anywhere?

~~~
brd
Largest ones I've come across:
<http://lejournaldelaphotographie.com/fullscreen/1677>

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kahawe
Does anyone know whether these are available in a book of some sort? I love
what he is doing and want to support it and want to see more pictures.

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fatjokes
Holy shit re. the maize. Maize partaaaay!

