Creepy Crawly
Originally uploaded by paulbrockmann.

I made the — perhaps — mistake of wearing just sandals for this

outing (please remember it’s always at least 30 Celsius here, and

always at least 80% humidity), even though I knew I planned to do some

walking. In this shot, you see what drew me back to the main trails.

I’d decided to explore a bit on some paths that aren’t well

maintained: overgrown with weeds and greenery, and with poor footing

where you often can’t see where your feet are. About 30 meters in, I

started wondering whether, in shorts, sandals and a tank top in a

region that I’m SURE houses plenty of venomous snakes and spiders,

this was really a good idea…considering especially there was really

no one else around in this section of the park to save me should some

green tree snake decide to take a bite. Then I saw this lovely little

critter scuttling by in front of me…and decided the beaten path

seemed pretty appealing just then.

An interesting aspect of this park is it seems to have been built with

more tourists in mind than it is currently attracting: though there

are plenty of tour groups, there are also a number of buildings and

structures that are being allowed to wither away. You’ll see examples

in the next two shots, “Buildings and Grounds.”

Foggy Mountain
Originally uploaded by paulbrockmann.

My day ended a bit earlier than I’d hoped, when a huge thunderstorm

rolled in virtually out of nowhere. Dozens of us sheltered under the

dripping tin roof of a small restaurant near the entrance to the main

part of the park, then when the rain cleared I enjoyed the clouds of

fog scuttling over the mountains. It was very moody and scenic.

Laura and Francoise at the Market
Originally uploaded by paulbrockmann.

A favorite spot for many people is the Bird and Flower Market, an

indoor/outdoor bazaar/flea market that sells plants, animals (pets or

meat?), flowers (cut, live, fabric, you name it) — and host of other

things from Little Red Books to antique ceramics and coins spread out

on blankets in the corners and back by the railroad tracks. These are

two of my colleagues and housemates on a trip there one Sunday.

Downtown Intersection
Originally uploaded by paulbrockmann.

In this shot you see one of the main intersections in the heart of the

older part of town, with a back view of one of the big government

buildings. (Despite its rather odd pseudo-Aztec/zigurat look, it’s

rather a nice building with lovely gardens in the front.) The shots

immediately after it are all very close to this intersection. The

first two show different angles of the same intersection, which is

right next to a major bridge over our river, and also right next to

the biggest shopping district in town — complete with Wal-Mart, the

big movie theater, and several different department stores and

shopping centers. In two of the shots you’ll see, if you look

carefully, the logo of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Naturally the

games are a VERY big deal here in China, and even in Nanning — almost

as far south of Beijing (which means northern capital, of course) as

you can get and still be in China — you see the logo adorning ads for

any number of companies. (FYI, the shot with more building and less

street shows the building that houses Wal-Mart. The shot with more

street, where you see the guy pulling his cart behind him, gives you a

small inkling of the craziness of these streets: I just wish I’d been

able to get a shot of the donkey cart that passed through the

intersection a few minutes earlier…)

Downtown Canal
Originally uploaded by paulbrockmann.

This lovely canal winds through an older section of downtown Nanning

— narrow, winding streets on each side, and this canal running

through the middle. It’s quite lovely, and as you see the trees are

currently in flower…though the water’s no picnic, and I hate to

imagine of the folks in the next shot are fishing. 🙂

In the shots after, you’ll see a bit more street scene on an old

shop-lined street next to the train station. If you look closely

you’ll see I was sort of following a woman who was lugging tons of

bananas on one of those traditional balance-on-the-shoulder things. My

heart really went out to this woman: it seemed the bananas she was

carrying on this blisteringly hot day must have weighed nearly as much

as she did.

I wish I’d had the guts to take more pictures on this street: the guy

walking across the street carrying some large firm sheet of something

odd-shaped, which when he slapped it down on the sidewalk a few paces

away from me turned out to be the dried skin of a shark. He slapped it

down next to piles of things that looked like they might be dried

pigs’ noses, but based on the taxadermically-mounted very large dead

white shark sitting in the storefront, and the shark skin that was

added as I watch, I deduced this shop sells various elements of dead

sharks. Sort of brings all those articles I’ve read in environmental

magazines to life in a new way.