Brave?

Today marks the beginning of Golden Week - China's National Day holidays.  Media are reporting that 610 million people are expected to travel in China during the period.  Read the article here.

We are embarking on a quick trip north to Qingdao in Shandong province.  Qingdao is on the coast and something of a seaside destination for the Chinese.  It's also known as 'broccoli beach' because of the algae blooms.  I found these three pictures below by typing 'qingdao beach' in google.  When we get there tomorrow I hope we find something more like the third picture rather than the first or second ones.

High density living

Wonder how many people live in buildings like these? Taken from the window of our car while we were stopped at a red light.

Bright spark

Pedestrians beware - renovations in progress!

Pyjamas

This photo isn't very clear - but I tried to snap this Chinese guy wearing his pyjamas... at 3pm! It is no shame, so the story goes, to be seen in one's bed clothes, in fact it's a sign of wealth and prosperity as it shows to others that one can afford more than one set of clothes.. for one.

Soccer fan

Max likes the "idea" that he plays soccer - more than the actual game itself. He loves getting the kit on, but when he starts on the field he gets distracted, missed the instruction and then can't do the drills. It's only been two weeks so let's see how he goes. Around the house you can often see him dressed up with his shin guards on and a soccer ball not far away. A few nights ago he even secretly put his shin guards on after we put him to bed - we didn't find out until we went in to check on him later.

Subway crush

The picture doesn't really tell the story - but we can confirm that the Nanjing subway is very, very busy. The kids couldn't see anything but legs and bags for a 30 minute trip.

Nanjing

Today we are in Nanjing for the weekend - a former capital - and site of the 1937 massacre. A really interesting museum here - although how do you explain war to a 4 year old? While we didn't take any photos inside, the last section is a three storey wall of folders soberly representing the list of names of the 300,000 victims.

Old and new

One of the things that I think China does quite well is blend the old with the new. Here a centuries old temple sits quite happily next to a modern commercial high rise. Notice the golden reflection too.

World's largest building - Chengdu

I was amazed to learn today that China has opened the world's largest building.  Not by height, but by floor space - more than one million square metres.  The building is in Chengdu - way out west.  Check out the clip below.

Soccer

Max started soccer last week with a group of 4 year olds - at the field beside our apartment building. He doesn't have great ball skills, but hopefully we can improve that.