Friday 13 March 2009

The Amazing Disappearing Skyscraper

After I finish writing this I have promised myself to keep pollution-related posts down to a bare minimum. I do not want to keep bashing the air quality, as sometimes it is perfectly OK (such as in this instance). A week or two ago I wrote this post which showcased some terrible pollution/fog. However, today has brought new lows to visibility in Wenzhou.

After working for eight days in a row at Web, I was very excited to finally have my two days of holiday. Things were starting to look up, the rain had finally stopped after more than twenty days, and even the sun made an appearance, it was warm, actually it was hot. Spring had been bypassed and summer was here, fantastic, I would surely have two sun-filled days off. As of this minute, it is almost lunch time and I am sitting in my bedroom (where my laptop is) in darkness. The sky has turned a depressing shade of grey, the rain has returned with force, and to my amazement Wenzhou's World Trade Centre -- the tallest skyscraper in the province -- has completely vanished.

The view from my balcony promises a breath-taking view of The Wenzhou World Trade Centre

Looks like today is the perfect opportunity for me to read my new, "How to Speak Chinese" book, and pick up the guitar again (it's been a while).

10 comments:

Yu said...

My hometown is in ZheJiang,its name is ZhouShan.Not far from wenzhou,i think,but there's a blue sky.

Johnny Ding said...

Hi,Chris. Glad to be back here seeing you again.
How is your Chinese going? Hope you've got a great prograss today.

You also play guitar recently? I am trying to learn more. But today the class was canceled. So disappointing. I was expecting it for a week.

mabelp said...

It's great to know that you can take a rest now. How tall is that skyscraper?

Ha! I also want to practice guitar again, but I have been too busy lately. My Fender electric guitars and Marshall amplifier are full of dust now. *_*

The Acolyte Tao said...

Ni hao!
Haha, I just began to learn Chinese today Chris! So there's my progress, I've just been learning the accents, the pronunciation of the words, and a few simple words such as hello! And how are you? Ni hao ma!

But as for pollution, I don't know how bad it is in China compared to Dallas honestly, but being ignorant of how pollution actually is and the levels of it, I'd say Dallas is sheer crap and the air quality sucks.

Anonymous said...

Thats just awful.

All big cities in China have the same problem...I wonder what it must do to your health?

sheri amor said...

nice

Anonymous said...

Do you have air-quality-improving plants in your room? I've been meaning to get some for mine, but I never do. Apparently there are some particular kinds of plants that really help. If you're interested I'll try to find out more and get back to you.

Good luck with the guitar. I really, really wish I could play so I could incorporate music more into my lessons, but making anyone listen to me attempt any sort of musical instrument would violate article 3 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, so I stick to listening to other people. As Bai Juyi remarked, 自弹不如听人弹 ("Playing yourself is no match for listening to someone else"). But I guess it depends how you play. :)

Christopher said...

Stanley, I have heard of Zhou Shan, I am sure I have had a student from there before! I will have to take a visit sometime.

Johnny, it was nice to see you on Sunday. My guitar progress has been quite slow recently, good luck with your practising.

Mabel, according to Wikipedia the skyscraper is 321.9 metres with 68 floors.

The Acolyte Tao, nice to hear you have started your Chinese classes. Sounds like you'll be better than me in no time, hehe. Will you learn the characters too?

Flying fish, I would really like to get some air-quality improving plants in my apartment. I have none at the moment. The thought has never even crossed my mind. If you have a couple of minutes free I would be very interested to know which kinds are the best. Thank you!

Anonymous said...

OK, I'll get back to you as soon as I get the information.

Christopher said...

Thank you flyingfish :)