Dragon Hunting » just photos

Guangxi Photo Smorgasbord

james — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 13:10:23 +0000

Oh shieeeet, you didn’t think that I was only going to post four pictures of my entire trip to Guangxi did ya? Visiting there was like being immersed in this strange but highly surreal organic tapestry of nature and then being punched in the face by mother nature herself. Damn did it feel good. Hope these photos make you feel good too. Now behold the power of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region!

MAO’s in the fuckin house!!!

I bet you’re calling up your travel agent right this damn minute.

Rock on Taiwan 臺灣

james — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:10:34 +0000

Just spent four carefree days on the island entity known as Taiwan. Met pretty much most of my expectations with the exception of food. What is with that freakin shaved ice - oatmeal and beans, I’ll stick to the bubble tea thanks. Imagine a slightly more worn down, less disgustingly polite Japan and add a swarm of scooters buzzing around.

I think my brain was zapped by aliens on the way back, and I really don’t have much more to say about the place than other than that, so instead I’ll show you what it looks like with some pictures. Moo.

Sunset on Qingdao

james — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:59:57 +0000

My time in Qingdao has come to an end. What wacky new adventures and destinations await? Only an oracle of hobos know*.

*hint: it rhymes with “nada”

Is that an Altocumulus Castellanus or a Cirrus Kelvin-Hemholtz Colombia?

james — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 10:59:45 +0000

Back here in China I miss a lot of things. I miss being able to go mountain biking without necessitating the use of a machete and dynamite. I miss being able to eat real hamburgers and not having to deal with the soilent green squeezed out of tubes at McDucks. I miss having my laundry come out of the dryer feeling nice and soft and not all crunchy and stretched weird as if it had been washed with ooze before being worn by the elephant man. I miss mattresses that aren’t measured for softness with the same scale used for precious gemstones.

And I really miss the clouds. Not to say there isn’t beautiful clouds in China. I’m sure there are. I’m also sure that place isn’t Qingdao. Here the sky comes in three varieties: blue, smog, and overcast. The last two being pretty much the same thing. So while I was in Canada, I tried to take as many pictures of the sky as I could. This post is the culmination of that effort.

Good news is that once the swamp-ass summer is over, the weather here dries up quick and remains so until spring. Maybe the smog will clear enough that we’ll get some cirrus, stratus or altocumulus undulatus up in this bitch. And maybe I’ll grow a tail….which come to think of it…

City on Fire

james — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 05:08:18 +0000

Happy Chinese Korean Lunar Rat Mouse Year (and hit the deck).

I just got back from Korea. I’m not sure which has paralyzed the city more, the half inch of snow on the ground or the mad rush of the holidays.

Last night a fierce competition erupted in the sky of rivaling fireworks. I believe all 7 million residents of Qingdao participated. What better way to ring in the new year than by having that ringing sound made permanent? I’ll give China credit, they do fireworks better than anyone else. If you have an apartment with even a half decent view, you’re in for a hell of a show. It really picks up at dusk and goes till…well I don’t know I went to bed at 2am and there were still explosions happening somewhere.

Year of the rodent? Not for this guy. Maybe he was knocked unconscious by a M-1000.

Update: I don’t know what I was drinking, cause that first set of pics sucked a mean pair of balls, here’s some better ones to make up for it:

On Top of Qingdao

james — Wed, 16 May 2007 08:19:45 +0000

I was going to write a clever little introduction to this nabe in Shandong, but I’m too busy concocting plans to infiltrate and overrun the government with hello kitty robots. I’ll leave that for a following post, but instead I come bearing these photographs from two different elevated vantage points. Ironically enough these photos make the place look small.

This is the Taidong area, and it smells.

The Koreans run this part, but I just moved in, so really it’s ran.

Remnants from the Mao days.

View to the west down Xiang Gang Zhong Lu.

View towards the place where they’re going to try and do some Olympic sailing. Take note of the group of buildings in the middle. 10 condos, all empty. I can’t imagine how much it must suck to be that building developer.

Northwestern view into the chaos.

Downtown Financial district.

When the air is clean, you can see the mountains, and yes today is as clean as she gets.

Density everywhere.

Across the bay to Huangdao harbor.

Shanghai Beckons

james — Fri, 04 May 2007 12:02:46 +0000

more to come…

in Beijing

james — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 08:46:47 +0000

Well I made it to Beijing alright, and it’s exactly how I remember it. Current forecast is smoke with a high of 9 degrees centigrade.