f11project

A Slice of China: Leisure

Located 7 kilometres north of Dunhuang city, Mingsha Shan (Echoing-Sand Mountain) is part of the Gobi Desert region with an area spanning 200 square kilometres. The highest peak is 1715 metres above sea level. Mingsha Shan gets its name from the singing sound of people treading or slide on the surface of the sand. The sand mountains are formed by drifting dunes and the sands have five different colors of red, yellow, green, white and black.

There are various theories about the singing sand mechanism. It has been proposed that the sound frequency is controlled by the shear rate. Others have suggested that the frequency of vibration is related to the thickness of the dry surface layer of sand. The sound waves bounce back and forth between the surface of the dune and the surface of the moist layer, creating a resonance that increases the sound’s volume. The noise may be generated by friction between the grains or by the compression of air between them. (Wiki)

It is not uncommon to see an entire neighbourhood in modern day Chinese cities and villages torn down to make way for new urban developments. Once an old historic neighbourhood with ancestral homes can vanish in the blink of an eye in the name of progress.

For some residents, this might be welcoming news provided they do get benefits out of the upheaval. Unfortunately more often than not, the common people which the state is suppose to look after are not getting what they deserve. A lot of them asked the same question: Is this the price of progress?

Changdeokgung Palace was built in 1395 and it is one of the “Five Grand Palaces” built by the kings of the Joseon Dynasty. Changdeokgung, like the other Five Grand Palaces in Seoul, was heavily damaged during the Japanese occupation of Korea. Currently, only 30% of the Palace structures remain.

Changdeokgung was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1997. The UNESCO committee inscribing the site stated the place was an “outstanding example of Far Eastern palace architecture and garden design” being exceptional because the buildings are “integrated into and harmonized with the natural setting” and adapted “to the topography and retaining indigenous tree cover.”

A portrait is not a likeness. The moment an emotion or fact is transformed into a photograph it is no longer a fact but an opinion. There is no such thing as inaccuracy in a photograph. All photographs are accurate. None of them is the truth.

~Richard Avedon~