China - Chengdu, Signage for the "China Characteristic Commercial Street"

Interesting that there's a "Walking Street Committee" over there.  Indicative of the omnipresence of a central government, but gotta say they do a great job of maintaining touristic infrastructure.  These areas are very well patrolled, but not oppressively so.  And very clean - not trashed at all; later on during this trip I took to capturing workers sweeping streets...very discreetly, of course.

China - Chengdu, Geometric Art #2

 

China - Chengdu, Geometric Art #1

Went into a building where there was a small museum space.  These guys caught my eye, not only because of the color, but this type of geometric pattern can be seen in many other art forms in China.  The building below was captured a couple of days after leaving Chengdu, in the city of Chongqing:

China - Chengdu Ear Pickers

One of the more interesting facets of Chinese culture, to me, is this ear picking thing.  A wife will clean her husband's ears as a demonstration of affection.  Chenjean did this for me when we were first married, and I saw this done on Chinese soap operas as a way to convey the stability of a married relationship.  And just as there are business establishments for foot massage, signs for dedicated ear picking establishments can be seen along busy commercial streets.  I would draw the line, however, if it went a little further and did the same thing for noses.

Got closer for the shot below, but felt weird about it, as if I were intruding on a private moment:

China - Chengdu, Tree Against Colorful Wall

Yesterday saw an article online - plus a couple of videos - touting that, even after having been on the market already for eight years, the Nikon D850 is probably the best DSLR you can buy.  Further confirmation that I made the right choice back in 2017 when it first came out.  For example - the picture above, captured with an iPhone, is decent enough, but would have had much more depth and richness of color if taken with the Bigger Cahoona.

Which reminds me of something I heard on this trip to China.  There was a guy in the group, a serious hobbyist, who brought along one of the latest and greatest Sony models.  He related to me that one could tell who the most seasoned photographers are in a group by looking at his/her equipment.  The younger and less experienced ones had the fancy big rigs with all the bells and whistles, whereas the more mature photographers would be crouching down to capture something with a point-and-shoot or phone camera.  Goes to say that subject trumps equipment every time.  Makes sense to me, but I'll be toting along the Bigger Cahoona next trip, with at least one more bell and whistle.

And that would be a GPS unit.  To me the greatest drawback of the D850 is lack of a GPS chip.  This was brought home yesterday as I was processing the pics captured with the iPhone, and was reminded that, in order to save battery life, Location Services was turned off for several days.  Thus there was no lat-long for a substantial block of photos, which would have come in handy.  Wouldn't have to worry about that if a GPS unit were attached to the Bigger Cahoona.  Priced a few online, and decided that it would be worth a couple hundred bucks for a good one.

China - Chengdu, Ancient Well Site with Floor Map

Moving away now from Kuanzhai Alley into other parts of the city...

This is a map of the region cast into a pedestrian walkway.  The wider, darker lines are waterways, appropriately emanating from this ancient well site.

China - Chengdu, Fruit Vendor at the Entrance to Kuanzhai Alley

Now these guys were interesting.  We were told not to buy anything from them, because the red fruit has been dyed and the blueberries come from suspect sources.  Nevertheless they looked very appealing.  And the scale they use to charge customers by weight could well have been in use a thousand years ago; I tried to get a closeup pic of one while it was being used but couldn't quite manage it, especially since I didn't buy anything from him or the several others we saw in the plaza.

What is equally intriguing to me was the method of carrying those trays around...something else that was probably in place a thousand years ago.

And evidently what they're doing is illegal, because once in a while a police officer would step over during a transaction and stop everything.  These vendors were very wary of the officers, and took pains to keep their distance.

China - Dairy Queen in Chengdu

What self-respecting tourist trap would go without a Dairy Queen?  Saw these in all of the larger cities we visited.  And the dipped cones - a go-to favorite for the wife and I - come in a lot more flavors than we see in the U.S.

China - Chengdu, Branches at the Entrance to Kuanzhai Alley

Another sight to see at the entrance into the Kuanzhai Alley.  Rustic, lamp, branch pattern...this one ticks three of my favorite boxes.

China - Chengdu, Signage at Entrance of Kuanzhai Alley

Closeup of some signage, which can be seen in a broader view in the post of a few days ago (Aug 8th).  There are lots of keepers that can be classified as "rustic" since there are so many old - even ancient - structures in China.

China - Chengdu, Women in Period Costume

Even some who are not performers dress up in period clothing, which they rent, much as they do at the Renaissance Festival here in Texas.  We saw this in several locations, both in eastern and western China.

China - Chengdu, Street Performer

Much as they do in Europe, performers who pose as historical figures are around with a collection plate.  This guy was amenable to having his picture taken even though I didn't put anything in the hat...

China - Chengdu, Our Awesome Tour Guide

...and here is our first tour guide, who was every bit as earnest as he appears in this pic.  After getting our baggage at the airport the night before, he offered to help me with my baggage but I brushed him off thinking he looked a rough character.  This was before I knew what his role in the coming days would be.  As it turns out, he was a terrific fellow, very friendly and considerate of our needs.  He traveled with us for most of our journeys through western China, and accompanied his tour-guide chatter with singing and even recitation of poetry.  We observed throughout the trip that poets are highly venerated there, in the present day as well as ancient times.

Another shot of our friend below.  We learned to keep a sharp eye out for that blue stuffed bear wherever we went, as many of the places we visited were crowded:

China - Chengdu, Vendor Booths at the Entrance to Kuanzhai Alley

A frame that captures the entire line of vendor booths.  Note the policeman on the left.  There was one of those at every entrance and exit to this venue, watching the comings and goings of everyone very carefully.  There is no out-of-line behavior, thievery, or any of that kind of crap in the tourist areas of mainland China.

Standing where these booths are looking across the plaza yields this view:

China - Chengdu, Entrance to Kuanzhai Alley (Wide and Narrow Alleys)

Our very first activity in Chengdu was to visit this place, an ancient portion of the city that's been converted into quite the tourist spot.  In this picture the pavement looks wet, but it is not...just very, very clean.  Another shot below that features more of the vendor booths one encounters on the way in:

China - Chengdu, Odd Bathtub

Something else I like to capture on a trip is anything unique, unusual or different...at least from our perspective.  This is a case in point.  Who has ever seen a bathtub with the drain in the middle?

The lodgings booked for us on this trip were fairly upscale, even five-star in some places.  Even so, because of the currency exchange rate, a top-tier hotel room in China cost little more than an urban Hampton in the States.

Another of these tubs from later in the trip:

China - Chengdu, Another View from Above

The walkway at top is what caught my eye - would love to have taken some pics from that vantage point.

Learned a lot about the phone camera's capabilities - and deficits - on this trip.  Using your fingers to pinch out on the screen makes 25x zoom possible.  After a point the camera's anti-shake software kicks in, so shots are surprisingly free of the blur normally encountered at those zoom levels.  I tested this in one of the cities we visited, focusing on someone's balcony some distance away.  The residents had some clothes hanging on a line to dry, and upon discovering the presence of a lady's underwear I decided to delete the shot.

China - Chengdu, City Square

My brother-in-law's brother-in-law tried to get us to go on his trips for years.  He and about 40 of his friends would decide they wanted to go somewhere and see what's interesting in other parts of the world, so they'd pick a place and go as a group.  We didn't make any of them due to work or something else, but the stars finally aligned and were able to join them on this tour of mainland China.  Being in Taiwan anyway for the duration made it a relatively inexpensive way to see a part of the world we'd never visited before.

Must say I was unsure about what it would be like to stay in a communist country, and in the interest of not standing out or making myself conspicuous in any way, elected to leave the Bigger Cahoona home, a decision I would regret at times.  All of the pictures in this lengthy series were captured with an iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Our first flight was to the colossal city of Chengdu, from the international airport in Taipei.  The pic above was taken from the 31st floor of our hotel, right on the square of the city.  Note the statue of Mao in the upper background.  I really, really wanted to go down there and wander around taking pics for a few hours, but could not due to the constraints of time; we were kept fully occupied from early morning until well after dark on most of the 16 days in the country.

Another view from the same floor below:

Williams, AZ - Night Shot of Train with Lights

A night shot that turned our pretty well considering it was hand-held with a slow lens.

I decided that this is enough of the Old West for now.  We'll jump to mainland China, then may come back to take in the Grand Canyon...

Williams, AZ - Fall Colors

As we'd gained altitude driving to Williams in the latter half of October, we got to see some pretty good fall colors.  This and the two pictures below were captured on the hotel grounds the morning after we arrived:

Williams, AZ - Shootout Shots #8

The shootout...

Once this performance was over everybody made their way to their assigned railcars to begin the trip. These actors stood alongside the tracks on our way out, waving and wishing us all a good journey.

But they weren't done with their day's work.  Each afternoon as the train makes its way back to Williams, these same guys and girl gallop alongside on horseback, firing their pistols into the air, whereupon the train creaks to a stop out in the middle of nowhere.  Then, playing the part of bandits, complete with handkerchief-covered faces, they dismount their horses, board the train and go from car to car "robbing" the passengers of assets and sense of security.  Of course it's all an act, and a way to gather tips for their entertainment services.  I put some money in my shirt pocket so that it dangled halfway out.  When one of the "robbers" got to our car I raised both hands, protesting that I didn't have any money to steal.  Naturally he saw the bill hanging out of my pocket and snatched it away.  I regret to say that it was just $1 instead of a ten or twenty.

Williams, AZ - Shootout Shots #7

The faceoff...