While it has been dreadfully chilly, the afternoon sun from my “sniper’s” nest at Momo Bar has provided some wonderful light. Two days of sun? I can’t believe it. Last week it was hot – shorts-weather. This week? I’m wearing a toque and long-johns. There’s no insulation in south China homes – plain old cement walls. If it’s 40 degrees outside, it’s 40 degrees inside. Often, it’s warming outside than it is inside. I think the Chinese weather has developed bi-polar disorder and needs medication and therapy.

It was wet too weeks ago, I don’t mean rain or assorted precipitation, I mean wet.  Like every tile surface was covered in water. I don’t know the physics behind the phenomenon. My Chinese friends believe it is water in the air. My belief is that warm weather after ten days of temps just above freezing, caused condensation to form everywhere. Please, correct me if I’m wrong.

I witnessed the downside of the freakish wetness in my second apartment. I hadn’t been there for three weeks. I noticed as I prepared to sleep Monday night that the sheets smelled decidedly funky. Upon closer inspection I find lovely black mold spots on my pillows and a strange connect-the-dots pattern on a sheet. Lovely. I went home the next day, linens in hand, ready for the washing machine and Mr. Sun.

Chinese Lunar New Year is also called Spring Festival. It should be called Almost Spring Festival. I spoke with a Canadian in Shanghai earlier this week – he opined that Canada was warmer than China. That’s not enough to draw me back but is certainly food for thought.

I’m off to Hong Kong tomorrow to a Strobist shoot with some local photographers and 3 models. The public wharf in Kennedy Town, Hong Kong Island is our location. Photos of Asian models to follow.

From my usual perch at Momo Bar and spied this young lad taking a hearty sip of milk tea. If there’s one thing a growing toddler needs it’s a good hit of sugar and caffeine. Welcome to China.

Grandparents are generally the caregivers of their grandchildren. While mother and father are out making money, granny or grandpa are at home with the kids. An afternoon visit to the playground features a stunning contrast in ages: Wrinkled faces that witnessed the Cultural Revolution chat as wee ones climb, laugh and cry. There are domestics, mostly rural village girls, but they are not as prevalent as the Filipina, Malaysian and Indonesian domestics in Hong Kong.

A year from now I will be able to take this photo of Grandmother Stevo and still-percolating Baby Stevo. Mrs. Stevo’s mother will be coming to live with us. This raises some issues. Grandmother Stevo speaks neither English or Mandarin, only her village dialect that I find impossible difficult to understand. And, Chinese child-rearing is not the something I want to comment on. I’ll hypothesize: If Dr. Spock’s work has been translated it hasn’t been read. The One-child policy has led to a lot of spoiled children but not a sparing of the rod.

Mrs. Stevo returned from the hospital yesterday with a fresh ultrasound pic. I’m not being unkind when I say the 1.5 pound Baby Stevo looks like some sort of bizarre sea creature. Ultrasound images are about as flattering as photos of yours truly.

This image was shot “on the sly” with a Phottix Hero Wireless Live View Remote.

Once in a while I head out after dark with my camera. It’s not the best for night shots. Noise, those evil digital Tribbles, worm their way among my beloved pixels. You can minimize noise with post processing software, but images tend to end up “soft.”

The gate of my community, (Da Men as I say to the taxi drivers) is one of the largest residential gates in China. Every location in China has a claim to fame. Example: Each town has a famous foods which is hawked by savvy restaurateurs. The Guangming district in Shenzhen is famous for fried young pigeon. People come from all over to partake of the delicacy. I’ve eaten it: It’s tasty, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to get it. Changsha, the capital of Hunan province, is famous for Chou Doufu – or stinky tofu. I’ve eaten that too. It’s doesn’t taste as bad as it smells. No famous food in my area – just a very big gate.

But I digress. No, my camera isn’t great for low-light shots. The above is a reflection of the Big Gate in the fountain just inside said gate.

As I was saying, Shenzhen, China is a sprawling city, it’s hard to believe that places like Sanmenkou Island co-exist with monolithic concrete creations. The airport and the Shenzhen’s beaches are separated by 50 km. I’ve been to the beach twice in my almost five years in China. I like the beach, I don’t like public transportation. Luckily, on our October holiday excursion, a friend had a car.

Dongchong beach was our destination. From there it was tickets on a small and scary boat across the water to Sanmenkou Island. The boat’s pilot, a Kejia man, has skin the color of leather from his daily journeys back and forth across the south China Sea, smiled as his craft smashed through the waves and his passenger squealed.

A large dog, in China? Sanmenkou Island must be a magic place.

If you’re from a large city you can appreciate what Sanmenkou has to offer. The island rises like a tree-covered, crooked finger from the Pacific. There are few cars, few people, and the only sounds are children splashing in the sea and the waves lapping at the sand and rocks.  Peaceful. Serene. Idyllic.

A photographer (or two) have been known to shoot Shenzhen's Sanmenkou Island.

Most of eastern Shenzhen is undeveloped. There are settled areas, but the green mountains make urbanization difficult. Two nuclear power plants and a prison share the area, as do merry-makers looking for a quiet escape.

Sanmenkou Island is place where time has little meaning. People seem to drift from place to place, ghosts of their busy city selves. Small hotels, fresh seafood, the remains of a military facility, and climbable hills offer these ghosts a variety of way to stay content. An afternoon on the island is a restful tonic to the weary urban warrior or the burnt-out traveler.

The day never ends at Sanmenkou and Dongchong beach. As dusk settles hordes of people arrive to spend the night on the beach. Facing east, it offers the early-riser a chance to watch the sun rise over the Pacific Ocean

Dusk over the mountains at Sanmenkou Beach, Shenzhen, China.

Thanks to David at Random Wire for recommending this great spot. His flickr images gives a much better picture of the place.

Getting to Sanmenkou Island, Shenzhen

Boats run from Xichong Beach and Dongchong Beach to Sanmenkou Island. Prices vary, be prepared to bargain.

What’s the old saying? Being between a rock and a hard place?

Or, Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right…

My new digs, Chateau Stevo East, is on the 12th floor of a building in Dalang (that could mean big wolf, I’m not sure of the “lang” character) Longhua, part of Shenzhen, China. My wonderful employer thought the main Chateau Stevo was too far to commute from three days a week. Presto! Stevo has another apartment.

It’s a little bare. A bed, desk, small table, two stools, an office chair, and a large fan are my associates. It’s two rooms, reasonably secure, and functional. The lack of AC and a shower (I have a bucket) are minor concerns.

Back to the rock and the hard place, or the clowns and the jokers.

Jokers to the right.

Out my window, to the east, is a church. Yes, a church. There are a few scattered around the mainland. It looks like a North American church, a big cross on top, gothicesque walls – I haven’t noticed any stained glass.

Clowns to the left of me in Longhua, China

Out my window to the north: The police academy. Last evening I listened to them playing the Chinese version of taps around 10 pm. (apologies for the poor photos – my camera is still in the shop and Mrs. Stevo’s leaves something to be desired.)

A rock and a hard place.

Everyone sing: Cops to the left of me, God to the right: Here I am, stuck in China with you.

If there’s a tax office to the south or west I’m hemmed in by the things I despise about North America. This will be an adventure. Have camera, will travel: Yes, and you never know where you’ll find yourself.

If you haven’t: Please VOTE STEVO!

You see a lot of overloaded motorcycles and scooters in China (all of Asia for that matter). Each morning fresh vegetables (and pig carcasses) are delivered to local markets. The food in China is fresh – as in watching your fish being filleted before you take it home fresh.

How much stuff can get packed on two wheels? Only The Fates know.  Carrie at My Several Worlds has some photos of in her archive of vehicles of burden in Asia.

Scooters are cheap in China. Not cheap enough that everyone rides one, but cheap enough that the emerging middle class can purchase one to tool around on. I’m not sure why. Most housing estates come complete with a smorgasbord of markets and shops. The public transit system in Shenzhen, China, is one of the best in the nation. Scooter-ownership, and the problems that entails, seem superfluous.

Josh at Far West China recently purchased a motorcycle. I’m occasionally tempted to do the same, but the fact motorcycles are illegal in Shenzhen, China, holds me back. Yes, I could buy one, but only ride it around the estate. Stevo, buy a car, you say.  No, that’s no going to happen, unless there is a car donation in my future.