Beijing, Great Wall, Jilin Province to the borders of Russia and North Korea

[Daoyin]

"Even in their truck..... both they and myself were cracking jokes and sharing information about our respective countries..... I am very surprised that many people in China , including these guys, are very well informed about Singapore...... a common question was how much money a Chinese migrant worker can make in Singapore"


Singapore is well known throughout China. For this we have to thank Deng Xiao Ping and Li Kwang Yao each in their own ways and motivations.

Very nice photos. Number 11/13 of the Great Wall are particularly telling. Can feel the cold just looking at it.

 

[zoossh]

"Even in their truck..... both they and myself were cracking jokes and sharing information about our respective countries..... I am very surprised that many people in China , including these guys, are very well informed about Singapore...... a common question was how much money a Chinese migrant worker can make in Singapore"


Singapore is well known throughout China. For this we have to thank Deng Xiao Ping and Li Kwang Yao each in their own ways and motivations.

Very nice photos. Number 11/13 of the Great Wall are particularly telling. Can feel the cold just looking at it.

hahaha.... maybe our success in suzhou industrial park is also very famous too.

 

[daredevil123]

Jilin's famous export and gift to the world is .... the snow frog (that wonderful dessert we eat at good Chinese restaurants ) or otherwise known by its cantonese name of Shi Kap.... its fatty stomach tissues are extracted to make cosmetics, traditional medicine and health tonics

These populate the forests bordering China and North Korea in their tens of millions and pickers harvest them in huge numbers
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Bro, did they tell you how to tell the gender of the Hama (snow frogs)? After they kill the frogs in boiling water, the position of the forearms will tell you the gender. IIRC the ones with folded forearms will be female and the one with straight downwards outstretch forearms are males. Females fetch a much much higher price than the males. Looking at the pic, I think all are females.

Great pics of the great wall bro. Looking forward to your pics of Yanbian. I will be headed there in January. It should be a lot colder too. Die.

 

[nuts]

I like the shot below!
Thanks for sharing your info.
Will be going there mid Jan. Hope I can survive!

And it was THAT tough even for local people (this shot with 350D + 28-135 IS)
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[1912123]

There was not much human interest subjects on the Wall that day due to the cold weather but we did run into this elderly comarade in one of the watch towers

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:thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[ed9119]

Thanks for the comments and feedback guys........ hugely appreciated

We got lucky and spent 2 nights on Changbaishan at their newly opened and only 5 star hotel there and it was really beautiful...... as some might well know, I'm lousy at landscapes and sceneries ...... but still could not help snap away at the scenery

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Oh some of you were asking if the 'hard' sleepers were OK..... they're stacked 3 high each side left and right in each compartment ..... a little crowded but with the right company of friends and strangers it can be fun..... ALWAYS TRY to book a bottom sleeper.... its tough playing monkey on a moving train climbing up and down to/from the 2nd or 3rd level bunks
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shot at ISO800 before the train moved off

Back down the mountain.... we spent a night at Antu and had some good early morning hours the next day walking around this lovely little town

Older in her mid 30s but still a Very pretty tofu seller who went around on her 3 wheeler selling tofu to restaurants in town
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We had a hearty breakfast at a local family's home and during the meal had the chance to take a peek at some Jilin Korean-style wedding photos
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Also got lucky and came across this wedding party ..... the custom is like ours to decorate the bridal car but the convoy is decked out in red balloons on the roofs ...... we saw quite a number of these convoys that day (must have been a lucky day to get married in Jilin). They are mostly hired taxis
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[ed9119]

Found an old hutong and we walked around the area poking our noses in other people's homes
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Changbaisan cigarette advertising billboard was just too tempting to resist in that warm morning light..... this seems to be the 'national' brand of Jilin Province
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Again the local folk were very easy to talk to and these couple of guys asked if they needed snow sweepers in Singapore.... told them the bitter truth about our tropical weather
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From Antu we drove straight through Yanji and did not stop until we got to Tumen.... one of the border towns on the Chinese side with North Korea
A taxi driver had a puncture and was cursing his luck and changing tyres when I decided I needed a souvenir reminder snapshot of where we were
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Weather was so cold that I think this outdoor meat seller had no problems keeping his meats fresh out in the open by the side of the road
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[ed9119]

North Korea is seperated from China by a narrow river no different than Mexico is seperated from the US by the Rio Grande
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Many parts were not even fenced up
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I was surprised to see little North Korean hamlets so near to us
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Bridge joining China and North Korea
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[ed9119]

This is where we witness the geographical confluence of 3 nations (China, Russia and North Korea)

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[ed9119]

We spent the next couple of days at towns like Yanji, Hunchun and Tumen exploring their little nooks and crannies and spent time talking to the locals

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[ed9119]

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[choy0014]

Ha ha ! I have received quite a few PMs on what equiptment I was using.....

OK pls dont be shocked....... I travelled lightly with equiptment

EOS 350D body paired with a 28-135 IS zoom ...... with a UV and a CPL on the side

A Panasonic LX3

Most B&Ws are shot in BW Dynamic mode

Great Wall images are mostly shot with the Canon ...... ALL else with the LX3

hope this helps

wow!! this goes to show tat we dun need great equipment to produce stunning pictures!! :thumbsup:

 

[trifusion]

To me, it's the heart that gives the wonderful pictures...
The real generosity to share with pictures and words...
That's what makes it all the more beautiful.

Thank you for sharing!!!

 

[stevepow]

Enjoying viewing your pix and the write-ups.
Thanks for sharing

 

[gapman]

really beautiful coverage! thank you very much for sharing.

 

[pean12]

This is an excellent "buddy" trip. Great photos. Must bring my DSLR with me to China instead of the PnS.

 

[Rubber_Duck]

Thanks for sharing those nice photos...
I'll be Beijing in Dec 2009 for Business trip.
May be I should just bring my 24-105 and 10-22.

 

[ahpompom]

May be i should show your pictures to all my Chinese operators, most of them from far north-east china, majority from jilin. They would LOVE to see their home photos.
btw, I can imagine you must be having a great will of taking down most of the shots along the way in harsh condition. Kudos.

 

[Daoyin]

I particularly like #60 and taken with a LX3 !

 

[ed9119]

Thank you for the very kind words of encouragement ! It is highly warming

But of course some of the pics are just record snapshots to give you an idea of what the place is like

Like this below..... our Changbaishan hotel right next to the main entrance to the mountain .... newly opened and 5 star.... one great thing about visiting Changbaishan in winter is that the crowds are ZERO and hotels are very heavily discounted..... these rooms carry rack rates of about 1000+rmb but less than half price in winter

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ha ha can u see my camera bag next to the LCD tv ? a Toploader 70 with a Sliplock pouch attached to one side.... thats all
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Outside our Hunchun hotel..... notice the use of Russian next to Chinese names
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