A quicky in Xinghai with Mike…

Before I start, in case he reads this, sorry for the title Mike, couldn’t resist really!  Anyway, went for a walk done in Xinghai a couple of weeks ago just for a break from the essay writing really, I forget the exact date but it must have been around the 20th of November or so.  Didn’t take the tripod cos it wasn’t really anything formal, just a chance for fresh air but took the camera down with me seeing as the cloud was dull and low.

Came across the deserted amusements from the summer that looked much like I remember the ones back home when I visit Weston during the off season.  I always found these places so much more interesting visually when they are abandoned, something slightly eerie and melancholy about them.  I could go on about ideas of how these things remind me of childhood dreams and the like that didn’t quite pan out as expected but you get the idea.  I find the aspects of how an area thrives during the on season and then becomes so desolate during the winter months more in tune with my experience.  Anyone from around small season areas would be able to relate to this concept

Anyway, I have added one image to this post that I feel sums up the ideas I am talking about well.  The closed down confectionery stand with the fake rock behind that would appear to now be home to someone from the look of the makeshift curtain doorway.  The flat lighting helps as well add to the general feeling of a loss of innocence felt by the kids who would have been buying ice-cream here only 2 months ago.  The large fake rock is built as well to make people feel that the large park this is in that has been transformed for tourism is really still a natural environment, with the explanation mark sprayed on just to remind people that the natural is far to dangerous and they should remain in areas where their money can be procured.  In reality all that was once natural has been laid waste in the the urban sprawl.  Dalian serves as an interesting example of this with the Mayor in the ate 1980s adding many green parks for people to relax in.  The only problem is most of these have given way to commercial ventures and remain only as a weak facsimile of the natural environment, the remnants of which are only seen in the steep surrounding hills that are inaccessible but still littered with power stations, quarries and pylons.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008 at 1:01 pm and is filed under Killing Time. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.