Photo Essay

     China is a globalized country, filled with Eastern and Western cultures and shops. China also certainly keeps its originality, such as its ceramics and dumplings. I had a chance to travel China and these are the most memorable parts of China (at least the most unique parts of China which I traveled).

Picture 1. Part of Shanghai's Landscape

       I live in Shanghai, China, a globalized modern city which has countless numbers of tourist attractions such as the aquarium, The Bund, and so on. I took this photo from the famed Pearl Tower. As you can see, there is a blue building with a upside-down regular trapezoid hole on the top. This building's hole has a long story behind it. It starts like this.

     The company who wanted to build the Financial Tower wanted a creative, unique design for the Tower so they held a competition for the best design and a Japanese guy got picked. His first design was the same building, but with a circle-shaped hole. The company exploded. saying that it reminded them of the Japanese flag. So the Japanese guy changed the hole to a rectangle. This time they were infuriated, saying that when the sun comes in the middle of the rectangle, it looked just like the Japanese flag. Finally, they settled with the trapezoid, which did not make the hole look like the Japanese flag.

     I think that the whole landscape of Shanghai is beautiful. And in the night, the roads start to light up with scintillating colors. The buildings are shined by the spotlights installed to the ground. It brings gasps from people, gaping at the beauty of Shanghai.

     

Picture 2. Terracotta Warrior at Museum

     When I was in sixth grade, I took a school trip to Xi An. Everybody was excited to see the Qin Shi Huang's, the infamous dictator, tomb. Not only the tomb but the terracotta warriors, soldiers made out of clay. I did not see the terracotta warriors in the tomb at first though, I first saw it in a museum. I was visually and positively shocked by the details and the natural looking components of the statues.

     Their eyes were very realistic, with the eye shape not too big or too small. Their armors looked identical to the other's armors, the clay shaped in the chain mails. They looked so graceful and composed.

     They had some faults too. The shoes looked slightly deformed, and the eyebrows looked like they used gel to make it into a curved line, jet brown.

     I was still awed by the complexity of the figure and wondered how I would have made the terracotta warriors.

Picture 3. The Lamp

      As I have mentioned previously, I have went to Xi An for our school trip. During the school trip, we also went to the XI An City Wall, the fortifications of XI An.

     It had a fun fact. It was found out by scientists that the wall's cement was actually a mix of kiwi, porridge and a special ingredient. It was a wonder how it stood that long, with kiwi and porridge holding it together.

     This photo depicts a dragon-edged lamp post with 3 red lanterns. In the background, you can see the top of the landscape of Xi An. I will describe to you how it looked in the bottom. It made me feel melancholy. The dragon is soaring, but some people are still living in huts and roughly made, unstable houses. This also reminds me of the balance between rich and poor.

     After I took that photo, I stood for a long time, thinking about how much I am lucky to have a reasonably stable life.

Picture 4. Bicycle

      On the Xi An City Wall, we cycled the whole boundary and the bicycle in the photo is the one I cycled on for 3 hours, cycling through the pain forming on my knees, cycling with the joy that enveloped me.

     The bicycle was not perfect. It was dusty, it was rusty and it was just not the best bicycle for me. but I ignored that part as the cool breeze and the happiness swept it away.

     The bicycle was my companion. My friends, who are sporty, sped away and it was down to me and my old bicycle. We traveled together, passing the bumps, encountering bridges, and pushing ourselves to reach the ending point before time ran out.

     That bicycle may be a bit rusty, but it was stable and I thank it for being a somewhat-reliable bicycle.

Picture 5. Dairy Queen Ice Cream

      "Julie, come on! Try it just once, please?" was exactly how I got to love Dairy Queen. My friend and I went shopping together at International Plaza at Shanghai when my friend started to beg me to eat a Dairy Queen ice-cream. Personally, I did not trust Dairy Queen as I never tried out a Dairy Queen ice-cream. Then my friend started t insist that  I try a cookie and creme ice-cream. I gave up and got a cup of cookie and creme ice-cream.

     I took a spoonful of the ice-cream. The sweet taste spread evenly on my salivating tongue. It tasted normal. That's when the creme came in. I savored the thick, smooth creme, blending with the cookie's crunchy, classic taste. It was quite a sensation which I can not wait to experience again.

Picture 6. A Dish of My Favorite Food at Ashley's

     There is a restaurant named Ashley's at the International Plaza in Shanghai. They have buffets there, and I got a chance to eat there.

     Despite the fact that the Ashley's food looked good, it also looked good. The Black Chateau, the sushi roll topped with brown, crispy little things with a few slices of vegetable, tasted slightly creamy and fresh as the mayonnaise sauce gives the thick effect while the crispiness prevents the creaminess from going too far and overtaking the dish.

     I love to eat shrimp with a squeeze of fresh lemon. The shrimp bursting with plumpness left me drooling.

     I don't like my waffles with chocolate syrup these days. I like them plain, the original taste of the waffles, instead of the stickiness of the syrup coating my tongue. They are Belgian waffles, my favorite kind of waffles.

     Salmon is my world. The tender pink meat with lime was good but the olives at the sides sort of messed up. The raw piece of onion on top made up for it. It was spicy and smooth, the way I liked it.

     I loved the dish overall and I would give it a rating of eight out of ten.

Picture 7. Chocolate Fountain with Marshmallows

     Chocolate dripping constantly, flowing in a shape of a fountain, the flowing taking the smoothness of the chocolate to a higher level. That is the highlight of the desserts at Ashley'. You get to choose fruits or marshmallow to dip in the chocolate fountain. My favorite is the strawberry tasting marshmallow dipped in chocolate, then topped with sprinkles.

     I can not explain in mere words the addicting taste of chocolate. Chocolate is by far the most awe-inspiring invention by god. We exist as chocolate exists.

     Okay, I may have exaggerated it but this deserves the exaggeration. Melted, liquidized chocolate is like cocoa but thicker. It is scrumptious. It is a heavenly ambrosia for mortals.

     They may all seem totally different. They may be common things. But China's special touch is what makes them stand out, special and original.