Boats amongst poles used for aqua cultivation

Location: Xiapu, Fujian, China (23° 46' 20" N, 117° 2' 47" E)
Date: 14 December 2008; 1.50pm
Camera: Canon 400D with Canon 70-200 f/4 L IS Lens

These days there are not too many exquisite places in China which are not swamped by tourists. More often than not, fabulous destinations are crowded with China tourists rather than foreigners. The main reason is of course, Chinese are getting wealthier and is more prepared to spend money traveling around their own country. On top of that, it is difficult for them to travel outside of China, without being part of a tour group or on official business. Another reason for such a phenomenon is the speed of news spreading via internet- and China has the world’s biggest internet population; hence news and reviews of any exciting new destinations will be known by many very quickly. An example is a small coastal town, Xiapu, in northern Fujian. Apart from some photography enthusiastic from Hong Kong and Taiwan, really only Chinese know of this sleepy town. The town’s main attraction to tourists is the scenery around the few coastal villages within a 20km radius. Such villages engaged in various aquaculture activities such as seaweed and oyster cultivation, fishing and so on. They are pretty and charming especially during the various harvest seasons with all sorts of activities on the coastlines. During the high season, droves of Chinese photography enthusiasts flock to this town, using it as a base- and there are only Chinese. Very, very few foreigners would even have heard of this place- so much so that there are only 1 or 2 hotels in town that are officially registered/allowed to offer accommodation to foreigners.

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Kek Lok Si, South East Asia’s largest Buddhist temple is a Penang landmark

Location: Kek Lok Si, Penang, Malaysia (5° 23′ 58.29″ N, 100° 16′ 25.43″ E)
Date: 8 August 2011; 11.20am
Camera: HP Compact Camera SB360

Georgetown of Penang together with Melaka was awarded a UNESCO Heritage status, both being dubbed "Historical Cities of the Straits of Malacca ’s a couple of years ago. The town’s main claim to the UNESCO status was its amazing web of still enormous number of colonial buildings, churches, government buildings, temples and still-inhabited pre-war shops and houses as well as art-deco structures. The town is a living testimony to the multi-cultural heritage and tradition of Asia, and European colonial influences. In the “old-town” area, which incidentally is still the major chunk of Georgetown, one can spot an architectural and cultural gem in virtually any corner one turns, be it beautifully and lovingly refurbished heritage mansions or living clan temples and schools. The amazing thing about Georgetown is that it is a truly living old town where in very few exceptions, people still lives a normal life in these old buildings and structures. Life still goes on unchanged for the majority of the inhabitants despite the UNESCO award; unlike Melaka where one feels a distinctly commercialised and touristy atmosphere as businesses cash in the UNESCO status.

Penang is not only Georgetown as there are many other interesting tourist destinations on the island, including Kek Lok Si (Temple of Supreme Bliss), the largest Buddhist temple in South East Asia. Furthermore Penang is truly a food heaven, where its distinctly Penang Hawker Food is famed all over Asia. I will have a couple more posts on Penang in the next few days.

Technorati Tags: Penang,UNESCO Heritage,Georgetown,Kek Lok Si

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The icon of Rome (& Italy)- the ancient Colosseum

Location: Colosseum, Rome, Italy (41° 53′ 24.61″ N, 12° 29′ 32.17″ E)
Date: 3 April 2005; 8.20 pm
Camera: Canon 300D with kit lens

The Colesseum is one of the most recognisable building of Italy and apparently the top tourist attraction in Rome. It is not difficult to understand as there are so many stories and legends abound about the Colosseum, not least movies and TV series about gladiatorial duels held in the Colosseum during the Roman Empire. It attained further notoriety associated with the martyrdom of Christians in the Colosseum by crucifixion and then fame as the starting point of every year’s Good Friday torchlit procession by the Pope.

The Colosseum is actually not that big; I guess is is the same imagery everyone have of well-known places and reaction when in its presence. In fact it is in a state of ruin and quite meaningless if one visits the place without a proper guide.

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The New Mosque (Yeni Camii) which is about 350 years old

Location: Yeni Camii, Instanbul, Turkey (41° 1′ 1.25″ N, 28° 58′ 17.3″ E)
Date: 21 April 2010, 8.10am
Camera: Canon 400D with Sigma 17-70/f2.8-4.5

Yeni Camii is know as the New Mosque. However it is not new at all, being inaugurated in 1665. It took about 4 decades to build the mosque, mainly due to funding and water seepage problems. The mosque is in the style of Turkish mosque with big courtyards, domes and minarets. It may not be the most well-known or popular mosques on the tourist map, but it is definitely one of the most beautiful one in Istanbul. I felt that one of the reasons that I labelled it as most beautiful is due to its outstanding location on the water edge beside the Galata Bridge.

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The imposing triangular shadow of Adam’s Peak at sunrise is quite a sight

Location: Adam’s Peak’s shadow, Sri Lanka (6° 48′ 41″ N, 80° 29′ 59″ E)
Date: 3 March 1997; 6.15am
Camera: (analogue) Minolta compact with negatives and scanned

Adam’s Peak is the 4th highest peak in Sri Lanka. It is revered as a holy site by Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and Christians. It has a 1.8m rock formation at the summit that resembles a footprint- the Buddhists regard that to be the footprint of Buddha, the (Hindu) Brahmans as that of Lord Shiva, the Muslims as that of Adam and the Portuguese Christians have conflicting claims that it is the footprint of St Thomas and the eunuch of Candace, the queen of Ethiopia. As such it is a popular and important pilgrim site. There are several routes to the mountain, involving walking up thousands of steps. Pilgrims normally starts very early in the morning so that they can be at the summit at sunrise to see the distinctive shape of the mountain casting a triangular shadow on the surrounding plain which can be seen to move quickly downward as the sun rises. In fact the walk up the summit during the wee hours of the morning itself can be quite a sight with the zigzag path leading up to the summit lit up by the lights of pilgrims.

Technorati Tags: Adam's Peak,Sri Lanka

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Wat Pho is one of my favourite wat in Bangkok

Location: Wat Pho, Bangkok, Thailand (13° 44′ 47″ N, 100° 29′ 37″ E)
Date: 24 June 2010, 1.15pm
Camera: Canon 400D with Canon 70-200/f4.0

Bangkok is a city with lots of attractions- enough to keep a tourist busy for 3-5 days, if one is not sick of wats (temples) yet. On top of the wat-hopping, One can go crazy shopping at the various cheap shopping centres in Pratunam etc as well as the numerous nights markets and the giant Chatuchak weekend market. Currently Thailand is facing a bit of a lull period as there are uncertainties and hence, anxieties of tourists travelling to Thailand resulting from the election. That is all past and hopefully, things will return to normal for the “Land of Smiles” and keep the people smiling.

One of my favourite wat in Bangkok is Wat Pho. Not only that it has a huge and majestic reclining Buddha, there are also a few Thai chedis decorated with flower motifs and Thai mythical creatures in tiles (pictured). These are really attractive. Furthermore if one is tired of the walking, there is a massage school within the compound that provide massage services.

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Gongfu monks? Not quite- just scripture debates, Sera Gompa. Lhasa

Locations: Sera Gompa, Lhasa, Tibet, China (29° 41′ 53″ N, 91° 8′ 0″ E)
Date: 18 May 2005; 5.50pm
Camera: Canon 300D with kit lens

Any visitors to Lhasa must visit Sera Monastery, which is within Lhasa limit at the northeast corner of town. One can easily get there by public bus. There are several reasons to visit this monastery including its historical and religious significance and the size and expanse. However one good reason to visit it is to witness the daily Scripture Debate by the resident monks. The monastery had developed over the centuries as a place of scholarly learning with many famed monks in Tibetan Buddhism having trained here. Everyday around 3pm, the resident monks will gather in the garden within the compound of the monastery to debate Buddhist scriptures and philosophy. The debates are punctuated by physical gestures such as hands clapping after each question, loud screaming and verbal exchanges that tremendously enliven the ambience of the debates. Some of such gestures may seem so violent that it may appear to an uninformed observer that the monks may be having a heated argument. These debates make this monastery a special experience.

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