10.09.08
Old Houses
One of the reasons I am most attracted to these places is the old houses.
They are real. They are old, but they have spirit. I can smell them.
It’s a tunnel where you can travel back in time, to feel, and to touch.
Early in the morning. Qi Town, small town in ShanXi pronvince.
People came out to work, on foot or on bicycle, buy groceries…
Half a leg of a pig laying on a wooden platform, tomatoes on the floor–that is the street market.
Clash.
I lived in houses similar to this before.
I am a city brat. I can’t tell crops. I don’t have a super refine taste. I find most abstract art funny. Lots of things I don’t care.
But this, is beautiful even in my eyes. 
A cat in the yard peacefully. well now it’s a disturbed cat in the yard.
very in the picture but very out of place….
The Qi’s courtyard. This place was used to shoot the movie “Raise the Lantern”. After visiting this place, I watched the movie again, for the 3rd time. And this time I could tell the places…
If I were the fourth wife of a business man, I’d be…well, kill me.
Again, it all looks so good, so beautiful when you are not in the picture.
Looking from far away, even the most tragic story has a beauty to it, only because you are not the victim.
John said,
October 10, 2008 at 11:46 am
As I was looking at the photos I was saying, “That looks just like the place they filmed Raise the Lantern”. Then you confirmed it for me. I really enjoyed that movie. Though, I am not a big fan of Chinese opera so when that one died I was happy to know that I wouldn’t have to hear her “sing” any more.
For some reason, that movie always reminds me of the Joy Luck Club. Though, as a man, I will deny ever seeing or enjoying it.
Tammy said,
October 10, 2008 at 12:20 pm
I’ve never understood the Beijing opera either, nor the Cantonese, nor Chaoshanese opera.(Gordo said it’s like putting a bunch of wild cats in a bag and kick them…) For me the artistic value lies more in their costumes than the singing and the acting itself…
I’ll have to watch the Joy Luck Club, to see if there is anything “un-manly” about it