Golden Tree Frog, Common Tree Frog, Four-lined Tree Frog, or Striped Tree Frog (Polypedates leucomystax, Rhacophoridae)

Polypedates leucomystax is widely distributed throughout South and Southeast Asia, hence it’s variety of common names. It thrives in both wetlands and forests. In urban settings, P. leucomystax can be found in garden ponds, on buildings, and on roads.

Breeding is year-round in some parts of the range but in drier areas, breeding is restricted to the start of the wet season. Males congregate at still or slow-moving water, or puddles, and call from the edges or elevated positions on vegetation. The call has been described as a “widely spaced nasal quack, and occasionally a low throaty chuckle”. Females deposit from 100-400 eggs in oval-shaped foam nests. The foam nests measure about 10 cm in length and are constructed on vegetation above ephemeral pools, or attached to a surface by the water’s edge. Hatching takes place after three to four days, occurring at the external gill stage. At this point the larvae wriggle free of the foam nest and drop into the water below. The larvae are opportunistic predators, attacking and consuming nearly anything they can, including both live and dead conspecific tadpoles and decaying vegetation. From hatching to metamorphosis takes approximately seven weeks.

by Sinobug (itchydogimages) on Flickr.
Pu’er, Yunnan, China

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girlfromnarnia:

This is the view from my house window in Nanning, Guang Xi, China back in 2010 when I first moved in. Three years later, I realized how much the whole environment has changed and how quickly it is changing. This whole community that I live in is constantly improving but I hadn’t really noticed how drastic the change was until I put these two photos together. Three years time…I just thought it was pretty amazing. 

Vat Handle

On visiting the Forbidden City in Beijing, it is hard to ignore the huge metal vats dispersed amongst the palace buildings. Water vats in front of a palace or house were called “menhai,” or sea before the door by the ancient Chinese. They believed that with a sea by the door, fire could not wreak havoc. The vats served both as a decoration and as a fire extinguisher and were kept full of water all year round.

A long-overdue comprehensive smoking ban went into effect at the Forbidden City on May 18 this year as a move to reduce the risk of fire in the timber structures (although not stated, hopefully for the health and well-being of patrons as well). According to the new regulation, staff and tourists are now strictly forbidden from smoking in all areas of the Forbidden City.

Palace Museum (Forbidden City)
Beijing, China

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Chengde Putuo Zongcheng Temple (Mini Potala Palace)

The Putuo Zongcheng Temple is a Qing Dynasty era Buddhist temple complex built between 1767 and 1771, during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor (1735–1796). It is located near the Chengde Mountain Resort in Hebei Province approximately 250km north-east of Beijing.
The temple was modeled after the Potala Palace of Tibet, the old sanctuary of the Dalai Lama built a century earlier. Since it was modeled after the Potala palace, the temple represents a fusion of Chinese and Tibetan architectural styles.The Putuo Zongcheng Temple was originally dedicated to Qianlong in order to commemorate his birthday, as well as provide Hebei with a temple of equal size and splendor as the Tibetan Potala Palace. The Putuo Zongcheng temple served more functions than just Buddhist ceremonies and festivals; it was also the location that the emperor would gather meetings of different ethnic envoys from within the empire. The location served as a peaceful getaway in contrast to the bustling life of the capital Beijing, as well as complimented the nearby hunting grounds that the emperor would enjoy with his hosts. As of 1994, the Chengde Mountain Resort and Chengde’s Eight Outer Temples (including the Putuo Zongcheng Temple) were established as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Chengde, Hebei Province, China

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Mid Northern Song Infant-Shaped Porcelain Pillow

Song Dynasty (960-1279)
Length: 30 cm; Width: 11.8 cm; Height: 18.3 cm
An example of Ding ware ceramics from kilns in Quyang County, Hebei Province.

Of the many necessities in people’s daily life, the simple pillow is close to the heart and head of us all.

Chinese ancient pillows were first made of natural stones and later the materials used extended to wood, jade, bronze, bamboo and porcelain. Surprisingly, among all these pillows, porcelain pillows were most widely used.
Porcelain pillows came into being with the development of porcelain-making crafts first appearing in the Sui Dynasty (581-618) and their mass production began in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Porcelain pillows reached the climax in terms of production and use in the Song, Jin and Yuan dynasties (10th-14th century).

Song Dynasty (960-1279) pillows, such as the iconic reclining child example pictured, feature a great variety and elegant modeling, including the geometrical shape, animals, architectures, human figures and other shapes. They also have colorful decorative patterns, and usually included the patterns of animals, plants, human figures, mountains and waters, and characters, etc. The modeling and decorative patterns on the pillows directly or indirectly reflect the culture, customs, fashions, and pursuits of the social life at that time.

The pillow is shaped like a boy lying prostrate on a couch and the boy’s back is used as the surface of the pillow. The boy folds his arms to support his head; his right hand holds a ball; his feet are raised and crossed with one another; he wears a sleeveless jacket and a gown, whose lower part is printed with a medallion design. The sides of the couch are pressed with patterns and decorated with panels. One side is adorned with a raised hornless dragon; the opposite side is plain; the other two sides are ornamented with tops of ruyi (a distinctive ceremonial sceptre). The glaze color of the body is cream while the bottom is plain and has two holes.

Ceramics Collection
Palace Museum Exhibit, Forbidden City
Beijing, China

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The “Arabian One Thousand and Two Nights” Guo Pei Haute Couture Show 2010

Guo Pei has been designing Haute Couture in Beijing China, through her Atelier “Mei Gui Fang”, or Rose Studio for over ten years. All the creations in Guo’s studio are made entirely by hand and they take hundreds of hours, to create. When she began her Atelier, she had to teach her seamstresses in the French art of Haute Couture and the required unusual pattern-making, draping and fabric manipulations in order to create her intricate creations.

Her works feature many elements of Chinese culture but, at the same time, still retain a Western elegance, directionality and sensibility that has garnered the obvious comparisons to the late Alexander McQueen as well as John Galliano.

In November 2010, she showed her Spring/Summer 2010 Haute Couture Collection entitled “Arabian One Thousand and Two Nights” where Guo Pei showcased sixteen works of haute couture art. The entire show lasted 76 minutes (most fashion shows run just under 15 minutes).

I am not a follower of fashion or fashion culture, but Guo Pei’s works (and there are plenty of them to see here on tumblr or any search engine) are remarkable artworks, if nothing else. I find the first image in this post particularly appealing in which, in her own words, Guo Pei says, “Blue and white porcelain turns into a dress.”

Anise Fruiting Body

Illicium (Anise-tree, Anise tree) is a genus of flowering plants containing 42 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees, in the family Schisandraceae. The species are native to the tropical and subtropical regions of eastern and southeastern Asia, southeastern North America, and the West Indies.

I am uncertain which variety this one is but many will be familiar with Illicium verum, Chinese Star Anise. It is widely used in Chinese cuisine, and in Indian cuisine where it is a major component of garam masala, and in Malay and Indonesian cuisine. Star anise is an ingredient of the traditional five-spice powder of Chinese cooking. It is also a major ingredient in the making of phở, a Vietnamese noodle soup.

Star anise contains anethole, the same ingredient that gives the unrelated anise or aniseed its flavor. Recently, star anise has come into use in the West as a less expensive substitute for anise in baking as well as in liquor production, most distinctively in the production of the liquor Galliano. It is also used in the production of sambuca, pastis, and many types of absinthe.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, it has been used in a tea as a traditional remedy for rheumatism, and the seeds are sometimes chewed after meals to aid digestion. As a warm and moving herb, star anise is used to assist in relieving cold-stagnation in the middle jiao.

See more images from China on my Flickr site HERE…..

Bronze Chariot No.2

The Qin bronze chariot is a two-piece Qin dynasty bronze artifact. The first piece, “bronze chariot one”, consists of a driver with two seats in the chariot with a bronze umbrella. The second piece, “bronze chariot two”, is a separate carriage. Both are about half the size of a real horse. The chariots were unearthed in 1980 at the Qin Shi Huang mausoleum in Xian, otherwise famous for the iconic terracotta warriors. The mausoleum itself was constructed over 38 years, from 246 to 208 BC, and is situated underneath a 76-metre tall tomb mound. The chariots are one of 64 designated historical artifacts that can never leave Chinese soil.

When the artifact was first found, it was in broken pieces. It took five years to restore both the chariots to their present state. Today the chariots are stored in the Museum of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shi Huang in Xian, Shaanxi.

At the time of my visit in 2010, only Chariot No.2 was in residence at the museum as Chariot No.1 was being showcased at the Shanghai Expo as an exhibit inside the China Pavilion building.

Originally buried 20 metres west of the Emperor’s mausoleum, the two chariots faced west in large 7-metre-long (23 feet in length) and 2.3-metre-wide (7.54 feet in width) wooden coffins. They were supposed to serve as the vehicle for the emperor’s inspection tours in his afterlife. They are constructed with bronze and cast bullion. There are a total of 1,720 gold and silver adornments, weighing 7 kilograms, including the harness and gear on the horses.
Chariot No.2 is larger than No. 1. There are three windows, one out front, and one on each side of the compartment, and a door opens at the back. The roof is umbrella shaped, said to be symbolic of the round sky.

It would be unusual for a tourist in China to not visit the Terracotta Warrior museum in Xian and admittedly, it is a must-see and almost incomprehensible to believe, even more so knowing that archeologists have still only scratched the surface of the mausoleum complex. As an aside photographically, if you are intending to visit and take remarkable photographs, be prepared in advance equipment-wise and how-to-use-your-camera-wise. Tripods and flashes are banned. All the halls and exhibitions are very dimly lit. Granted this is most certainly to protect the artifacts but the environment is not conducive to good photography unless you are adept at selecting suitable manual camera settings and have a very steady hand. Of course, there are locations in the museum specifically set up to allow photography with the relics, but they come at a price. Similarly, photography of souvenirs is also dissuaded. The overwhelming feeling I had was that in the knowledge that your own photos were not good enough, the incentive to buy postcards/books/souvenirs was greater. Its a case of tourist beware - purchase or perish.

Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor
Xian, Shaanxi, China

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Yin Xiuzhen: Portable Cities series, 2006-2010

Portable Cities are small-scale installations in suitcases that use old clothing and fabrics from an inhabitant of the particular city which are tranformed into three-dimensional textile models of their places of origin, hereby examining the political, social, historical, environmental, and human constructions that surrounded the artist when she was living there. 

1. Hamilton

2. Melbourne

3. Xi’an

4. Hangzhou

5. Dunhuang

6. Groningen

About her favourite material, Yin says: ‘Clothes tell a lot about a person. At a single glance they recount how big a person is, his or her age, style, gender and income. But they also narrate invisible information such as the memory of a certain period when the piece was worn, and the reason why it was kept.’

The Weburbanist has more here.

Lotus Leaves

In Eastern literature, the lotus is a plant that grows out of the slimy mud - the still, putrid water - to produce the most beautiful flower. “It is compared with life; that whatever your life circumstances, it’s possible for the most pure and beautiful thing to rise.”

Any Lake in Summer
Beijing, China

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Door Latch

Forbidden City, Palace Museum
Beijing, China

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Lattice Window

Forbidden City, Palace Museum
Beijing, China

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…..more

BEETLES of China (Beijing and Yunnan)

A sample of my real passion - entomological macrophotography.
See more Chinese insects and spiders in SINOBUG.













Click images to see identification (linked to their respective Flickr pages).

See my other BEETLES of China tumblr posts HERE.

See more images from China on my Flickr site HERE…..

Water Lily

Water Lily
Any of various cosmopolitan aquatic herbs of the genus Nymphaea, having floating leaves and showy, variously colored flowers. Also called pond lily.
Lilies are the most popular of all water garden plants. Their ability to spread a multitude of leaves across the surface of the water and flower throughout the season, make them a sought after addition to any pond. Lily pads also provide a great deal of shade from the heat of the summer sun, allowing fish to retreat underneath the shelter of their leaves. And they come in a variety of forms.

Not to be confused with….
Lotus
An aquatic plant (Nelumbo nucifera) native to southern Asia and Australia, having large leaves which rise above the water surface and fragrant, pinkish flowers which rise above the leaves; a broad, rounded, perforated seedpod, and fleshy rhizomes.
In Eastern literature, the lotus is a plant that grows out of the slimy mud - the still, putrid water - to produce the most beautiful flower. “It is compared with life; that whatever your life circumstances, it’s possible for the most pure and beautiful thing to rise.”



Lily: Pu’er, Yunnan, China
Lotus: Beijing, China

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Fine China

Porcelain Tea Cup on Exhibit

Since 1925, the Forbidden City has been under the charge of the Palace Museum, whose extensive collection of artwork and artifacts were built upon the imperial collections of the Ming and Qing dynasties.

From 1933, the threat of Japanese invasion forced the evacuation of the most important parts of the Museum’s collection. After the end of World War II, this collection was returned to Nanjing. However, with the Communists’ victory imminent in the Chinese Civil War, the Nationalist government decided to ship the pick of this collection to Taiwan. Of the 13,491 boxes of evacuated artifacts, 2,972 boxes are now housed in the National Palace Museum in Taipei. More than 8,000 boxes were returned to Beijing, but 2,221 boxes remain today in storage under the charge of the Nanjing Museum.

Today, there are over a million rare and valuable works of art in the permanent collection of the Palace Museum, including paintings, ceramics, seals, steles, sculptures, inscribed wares, bronze wares, enamel objects, etc. According to an inventory of the Museum’s collection conducted between 2004 and 2010, the Palace Museum holds a total of 1,807,558 artifacts and includes 1,684,490 items designated as nationally protected “valuable cultural relics.”

Palace Museum (Forbidden City)
Beijing, China

See more images from China on my Flickr site HERE…..