Chinese Symmetry -WP Photo Challenge

When I take pictures I often follow the rule of thirds to make things more interesting. This causes difficultly when looking for pictures with symmetry. I took a rainy stroll around the block today and looked for things that created symmetry.

A street sign showing Chinese characters isn’t symmetrical, but some Chinese characters can be divided equally.

some Chinese characters are symmetrical

Wednesday is New Years Eve and Chinese lanterns and other decorations are popping up all around. The entrance to this shopping area was very symmetrical.

Chinese New Year decorations near City Shop and Yanlord Town

Expensive cars grace the streets in my neighbourhood and I noticed the grill of this high-end car to be symmetrical.

man made symmetry

Look for what creates balance and symmetry in your neighbourhood. Find something? Post about on WP or tell us about in the comments below.

Stay tuned…

 

Red #2: Tourist in Your Own Town

Each month I have posted a theme and asked you to join in. For February the theme is RED. I haven’t been getting a lot of participation and asked for suggestions on red post #1. Many readers said keep trying and it may be slow going before it catches on. Thanks so much for your encouragement. I did have some takers this month. Patchwork Ponderings, who has participated before, showed us some RED from The Niagara area in Ontario, Canada. I also had 2 new bloggers visit and post. Debbie had a very cool take on the theme in London, England while Jackie, a fellow Canadian, showed some RED from Toronto, Canada. Visit the orignal RED post (in the comment section) to find their links and check them out. They are worth a peek!

When I first thought of RED I wanted to post something for Chinese New Year, but didn’t have any photos. The other day we were out and I captured this.

Red paper from firecrackers litter the streets.

Chinese New Year is the big celebration in China. Some compare it to our Christmas, but I think it is bigger. The holiday lasts 14-15 days. The biggest part of the celebrations take place over 3 days. New Year’s Eve brings loud pops and bangs as firecrackers scare away the evil spirits and bring good luck for the upcoming year.  With pollution at high levels Shanghai was said to limit the amount of fireworks, the much more colourful counterpart of crackers. The newspapers reported less polluting fireworks were also being sold as to still allow the tradition to continue. Despite this New Year’s Eve was still noisy and continued cracks and bangs went on at regular and random intervals for close to 48 hours. Another part of the celebration is a family dinner with all members reuniting. With many migrant workers coming into the city for work, or higher wages it may be the only time they see family. This is not just seeing extended family, but it may be people reuniting with spouses and children.

Chinese New Year involves gifts, but not brightly coloured packages wrapped in bows and coloured patterned paper. Instead crisp bills are placed inside red envelopes. Other gifts often include oranges and sweets like cookies in specially designed gift boxes similar to those we see in shops for Christmas at home. The following photo shows the symbols of Chinese New Year as well as red envelopes hanging on a holiday tree. As far as I know they do not usually decorate tress in the way for the holiday. I think this was more a mix of East and Western cultures done by the local hotel.

Red envelopes and lucky coins with tassels decorated this unique holiday tree.

The last photo is to celebrate the start of the olympics. Here are my RED Olympic Canada mittens which I wear here in Shanghai. GO CANADA!

There is still time to participate and post something unique, special and RED from where you live. Be a tourist in your own town and share something from where you live. Follow this link to get all the details. Be sure to leave a link back to your post in the comment section of Red #1

Stay tuned…

Red: Tourist in Your Own Town

Each month I pick a theme and ask you to post a photo of something from where you live to fit the challenge. As February begins so does 2014’s Chinese New Year and for many other parts of the world you may think of Valentines Day and love. What better idea than to show something RED? Maybe you want to show yourself or how other’s paint the town RED. Maybe there is a Valentine or Chinese New Year display where you live to show RED. However you decide post something RED, from wherre you live, before the end of the month.

Very RED tomatoes at the local wet market

The response to these photo challenges hasn’t been good. 😦 I have had lots of comments and ‘will come back later’ to post, but few have. Any suggestions how to make this a better challenge or how to get more interest would be greatly appreciated.

Traditional RED doors in Shanghai

The rules:

• post a photo of this month’s theme however you interpret it
• add a link in your post to this one here so others can join in
• put a link to your post in the comment section below, so we can find you
• add RED and Tourist in Your Own Town in your tags and title
• Snap away and have fun. Be sure to post before the end of February

The RED China Pavilion  -for the 2010 Shanghai Expo. Long after Expo this building remains to be used as a museum.

Thanks and stay tuned…