invisible Russians

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An easy day. Mild temperatures. Roads winding through little villages.

People hanging out everywhere, passing the time.

Old people:

Jingsheng

Young people:

kids in Jingsheng

I saw another burial on the way, but I didn’t take any pictures this time, I just stood there trying not to bother anyone.

From what they told me an average funeral ceremony costs about 8.000rmb. Quite a large sum considering that most people here only earn about 500 to 1.000rmb a month. Better not die.

Now guess how much a wedding would cost you then? TEN times this much. Better not marry!

Okay, since we’re being boring, talking about money anyways:

How much for Buddha’s head?

This is Zishou Temple 资寿寺, a place of worship originally from the Song-dynasty:

Zishou Temple

Someone had sawed off the heads of several Buddha statues back in the early nineties, then sold them overseas. A businessman from Taiwan later managed to retrieve them and give them back the temple, free of charge:

statue in Zishou Temple

Looking at the seams around the neck of this poor deity, I was only wondering who would be willing to buy something like this if it meant that much hurt to so many people?

After visiting the temple, I walked straight down a little road that was all black with coal. Then I turned left and then right again and found myself on a newly constructed highway that lead to this:

heavy industry in Shanxi

Looks pretty hopeless, doesn’t it? I think I kept walking for about a half hour straight, always looking at this, then, when I got there, I went to a little place that had “shop” written over it, opened the door, and:

shop in Shanxi

Oh how I love places like these! We used to call them “Tante-Emma-Laden” in Germany – Aunt Emma’s shop.

This one was really well-equipped and friendly-looking. Popsicles and leather gloves bathed in warm light…and a warm smile.

I had lunch/dinner next door:

food place in Shanxi

Good noodles, and what’s even better: these folks were so much fun to talk to! I found out that the factory was in fact Russian-owned. We then made a scheme how I would wait for the beautiful Russian girls (“tall, so tall!”) who were chauffeured to and fro everyday in a black limousine, and how I would then work some of my natural German charms on them.

…too bad the Russian beauties remained completely invisible! But then on the other hand my new friends really didn’t think I stood too many chances the way I was looking, a dirty face and black fingernails, basically coming directly out of the coal…

Time to find a place with a shower!

Well, I’m in the city now:

Lingshi at nightfall

A good place to take a shower.

Always keeping an eye open for the tall…

…ever so tall…



  • Marten

    Hey Christoph! Ich bin beeindruckt das du jeden Tag etwas schreibst. Das habe ich im Sommer auch versucht (website), aber nach 'ner weile hatten wir keine lust mehr um immer Foto's aus zu suchen und etwas zu schreiben. Also bleib schreiben (und Foto's machen 😉 vor allem wenn sie so gut aus sehen wie Heute. Ich wuensche dir alles Gute fuer 2008.

    groeten, Marten

    Reply

  • Christoph

    Hey kleiner Cousin!
    Ich mache das hier so ernsthaft wie ich kann, und so gut es geht.
    Bisher habe ich ja noch jeden Tag was zu Papier gebracht.
    Aber das neue Jahr hat ja noch viele Tage…
    Dir und Jasper auf jeden Fall auch alles Gute!

    Reply

  • Freya

    了不起!!!
    很有趣的文字!

    Reply

  • David lee

    Marten? Is who I was mentioned DeadKing? , Hi, Christoph, after dinner come to see you, just like a refreshment, although you are disgusting coal refreshment, 🙂

    Reply

  • Rubi

    bilder runtergeladen, morgen importation in programm.
    sonst alles fitsn? wir müssen mal über robozwerg-besucht-kampfranate-action reden.

    Reply

  • Jasper

    Salut Christoph! Ici c'est ton autre petit cousin 😉 D'abord je te souhaite tout le bien pour le nouvel an et une bonne continuation de ton voyage!

    Ton site web me plaît beaucoup. Tes photos et tes histoires me donnent envie d'aller faire un voyage moi-même (seulement pas si long ;)) C'est comme une fenêtre qui donne sur l'autre côté du monde. Bonne chance d'ici!

    Jasper

    Reply

  • knarf

    robozwerg?
    sauber!
    da ist nen pfund gekommen

    Reply

  • Christoph

    Freya: 哪里哪里,呵呵 🙂
    David Lee: Haha, sounds like you're having a good time checking out this site.
    Rubi: Jo, stimmt. Guck mal, wann du Zeit hast!
    Jasper: Tu parles déja mieux en francais qu'en allemand? super-cousin, toi!
    knarf: Der Pummi!! 🙂 ("das is ilten! die bekloppten sind dahinten – wir sind hier die nomaalen!")

    Reply

  • Andreas

    natural German charms ..haha

    Reply

  • Vasco Carto

    I look at all these restorations and honestly hope one day the same will come to Tibet. Never been there but everytime I see images of Tsaparang and compare it to old photos I die a little bit!

    Wish I was a wealthy millionaire that could invest in recovering heritage.

    Peace dude! 🙂

    Reply

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