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Pictures Of China
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CHINA TOPICS OF BEIFAN.COM
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China Postcards: Pictures of the Yellow Earth By Xu Yong
Most children in the loess plateau have to walk a long way to go to school. After the classes are over, their daily trek also includes picking up firewood, raising sheep or looking after their younger brothers and sisters. Once I asked a nine year old boy, "Do you want a wife after growing up?". "Yes," he answered. "For what?". "For raising sheep and washing clothes." The elderly have high hopes for their children's future. I once asked an old man about the future of his son. He said, "Alas, I could not let him suffer the way I have. The whole family now support him to receive education. I expect him to have a good future and can go out to see the outside world."
In the photos album, "Childhood On Loess Plateau", I record the lives of those innocent and naive children living deep in the loess plateau.
Known as a place where the loess is the thickest in the world, the region is also the hometown of the Chinese ancestors and birthplace of the Chinese culture.
The living conditions in the loess plateau are hard to endure, and the childhood of the Chinese children is totally different from that of those living in the coastal region of China.
The most cheerful occasion for the poor peasants there, as in other parts of China, is the Spring Festival. Every Spring Festival, every household would ardently decorate its home and put exquisite paper cuts on windows.
Farmers in colorful costumes organize their own parades to neighboring villages for exchanging New Year Greetings. The carnival is in sharp contrast to the stable, lonely and hard routine life in the Yellow Earth for most of the year.
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The name of the Yellow River is also originated from the Yellow Earth. Accordingly, the Yellow Earth is considered by many the synonym of China. The poor transport means and the inaccessibility to information solidifies the evolution of productive methods and people's lifestyles. Farmers in the regions still cultivate lands with manual labor and the harvest relies heavily on the unpredictable weather. The grandest sacrificial ritual in the plateau is the rain-praying ceremony. Every year before the spring planting, the farmers throng atop hills to offer sacrifices for the Dragon King, the legendary Rain God, for favorable weather and a bumper harvest in the coming year. In China, the Yellow Earth usually refers to the loess plateau in the country's northern part. The plateau is acknowledged as the birthplace of Chinese nationality. The tomb of Emperor Huang, said to be the ancestor of the Chinese people, still locates on the northern Shaanxi province. Geographically, the loess plateau is situated in the central part of North China with an area of thousands of square kilometres and its altitude averaging between 800 and 1,100 metres above sea level. The place is one of China's driest regions partially due to over cultivation and soil erosion. For past centuries, people in the region developed a special cave dwelling, or "Yao Dong". They dig into the sunny slope of the hills till they finish an arch-roofed cave.
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All Photographs of the Loess Plateau Copyright Of Xu Yong, China. July, 1996
Children Of The Loess Plateau Pictured On China Postcards
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All Photographs of the Loess Plateau Copyright Of Xu Yong, China. July, 1996
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Robert's Wild Cards
All images below copyright metcn8.com and Associates, all rights reserved.
| A Vietnamese Wedding with ancient customs western style. Ceremonies at the home of the bride followed by registration of the marriage at "la mairie de Creney-pres-Troyes" then a service at the catholic church, "Pont Sainte Marie". In the evening a party was held at the Community Hall to celebrate the happy event.
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| China Pictures from the Shaolin Temple show building construction work for a World Heritage Listing, working in shifts over 24 hours to complete the Shaolin Temple Buildings. Where the workers had come from is unknown but from observation, they were very experienced in the skilled work they were doing. |
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| The teenage building worker and the kung fu student are of similar age but as can be seen from the pictures of hands, their lifestyles are completely different. The kung fu hand forms demonstrated by the kung fu student in the pictures of hands, seem to develop hands of steel! |
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Photos Of Dragons In China: Page 2
Links To Dragon Web Sites
Names Of The Nine Sons Of The Dragon
Children In China the Land of the Dragon
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Previous China photos
Pics of People in China.
Food for Vegetarians.
Grand Master Su Xi.
For friends in Vietnam.
Embroidery of Suzhou.
Pictures of Vegetables.
Pagoda Forest Shaolin.
For friends in China.
From Visit June 2004.
Links For Europeans, Canadians And Americans
Pictures of Dragons.
Pictures of China.
Chinese Food Pictures.
People Pictures.
Buddhism and Buddha.
Shaolin Ceremonies.
Children in China.
Pictures of Old People.
Yangtze River Cruise.
Chinese Wedding.
Making Coolie Hats.
Silk Worms and Cocoons.
Highest Mountain Guilin.
Takeaway Menu.
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