Curious

Peoplemover

Jacksonville has a downtown transportation system that is pretty unique as far as I know. It is called the Jacksonville Skyway. I has been in operation since 1989 but has been expanded and upgraded several times since then. It has 8 stations, some on both sides of the St. Johns River, and is free to access... no charge to ride.

Of course the photo above does not show the peoplemover, only one of the brightly painted pillars that hold up the elevated monorail. The photo below is a view of the two car train navigating its way through the business district.

Behind the gate

Windows out the window

Electric Tower

The Electric Tower in downtown Buffalo was modeled after the centerpiece of the 1901 Pan-American Exposition that was held in nearby north Buffalo. It was for many years the Niagara Mohawk building but now has been renovated, restored and leased for office space. Quite a beautiful building I think.

New towns

As a result of the higher water level caused by the Three Gorges Dam, about one and half million people had to be relocated to higher ground. In many cases this meant families giving up land that had been farmed for many generations. The government provided high-rise apartments, which of course meant giving up farming. This has resulted in many leaving the rural life and instead working in manufacturing.

Being forced to make this change would seem to be greatly resented by the people, but we were told it was accepted for the common good... a central premise of Communism.

Antenna

An unusual top for an antenna. I suspect it is to ether attract or repel lightning. But I have never seen an apex like that until I saw several like it in China. It kinda adds to the spookiness of the scene.

But what is even more interesting is to look to the horizon and notice the sea of high-rise apartment buildings. They are everywhere in the cities, and even in the country where "new" cities are being built. They are usually at about 30 stories tall and much wider than tall meaning each holds hundreds of families. And each building is often part of a development that contains a dozen or more additional and identical structures.

There are a lot of people in China... almost a billion and a half... nearly twenty percent of the world population. That means a lot of apartment buildings.

China

I just returned from two weeks in China. What I found was not exactly what I expected. It is a country of great contrasts... from gleaming towers of glass, to traditional Chinese architecture. From the super rich, to the super poor. From exotic sports cars, to pedaled rickshaws. Crazy traffic, but on modern well maintained highways (sometimes with three or four bridges stacked). 

And I saw more capitalism than Communism.

I captured many pictures on the trip, but most are of the tourist genre, and I will not be posting them. I will, however, be posting a few images over the next week or so of my observations.

Launderette