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When I was traveling in rural parts of China, locals seemed equally baffled that a laowai was interested in their lowly village. Also, I assume most Chinese who

When I was traveling in rural parts of China, locals seemed equally baffled that a laowai was interested in their lowly village. Also, I assume most Chinese who have money to travel abroad live in large cities where such single family homes are quite a rare sight and sell in the millions of dollars. Now, why that village more than another I have no idea.

Zigurd 10y ago
When I spent quite a bit of time in China, I would use Google Earth to find places that hadn't had all their pre-revolution homes replaced by highrises. It wasn't that easy!
mhink 10y ago
I think this might be hinting towards the truth. An additional observation might be the pursuit of authenticity- so many cities and tourist destinations across the world seem to have become hyperreal versions of themselves- in my own home city of Seattle, the Seattle Center park seems to be a good example of this. Walking around near the Space Needle feels like going to Disney World- monorail and all. I mean, if I visited the U.K., and spent an entire week in London seeing all the tourist attractions (I suppose for me that'd be Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, London Tower Bridge, the Houses of Parliament, Abbey Road), what would I really get out of that? I can see pictures of those things on the Internet any time I want (and in Abbey Road's case, I can see live streaming video!)
- stinkytaco 10y ago
  Off topic, but there's something I love about that webcam. It's that mix between the cultural meme that's frozen in time (notably the album cover) and its intersection with a real world place. Before I saw the video I guess it never really occurred to me that it's a real street carrying real people and real cars. It's obvious, but I had never given a thought to it as a real place. Plus it's funny to see cars zipping around that curve while people are at the crosswalk. I can practically hear the frustration of the drivers who have to stop and wait for a bunch of tourists staging a photo.

Zigurd 10y ago

When I spent quite a bit of time in China, I would use Google Earth to find places that hadn't had all their pre-revolution homes replaced by highrises. It wasn't that easy!

mhink 10y ago

I think this might be hinting towards the truth. An additional observation might be the pursuit of authenticity- so many cities and tourist destinations across the world seem to have become hyperreal versions of themselves- in my own home city of Seattle, the Seattle Center park seems to be a good example of this. Walking around near the Space Needle feels like going to Disney World- monorail and all. I mean, if I visited the U.K., and spent an entire week in London seeing all the tourist attractions (I suppose for me that'd be Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, London Tower Bridge, the Houses of Parliament, Abbey Road), what would I really get out of that? I can see pictures of those things on the Internet any time I want (and in Abbey Road's case, I can see live streaming video!)

stinkytaco 10y ago
Off topic, but there's something I love about that webcam. It's that mix between the cultural meme that's frozen in time (notably the album cover) and its intersection with a real world place. Before I saw the video I guess it never really occurred to me that it's a real street carrying real people and real cars. It's obvious, but I had never given a thought to it as a real place. Plus it's funny to see cars zipping around that curve while people are at the crosswalk. I can practically hear the frustration of the drivers who have to stop and wait for a bunch of tourists staging a photo.