little_tippler

I thought this photo was interesting because, even though it could be a montage, it describes well what I've read and heard on China, particularly with regards to it's currently booming economy. There is a great divide between rich and poor...and it is plainly visible. They are in close proximity to each other. I have met people who have visited China recently due to the boom in the art market and they also took photos like this...the entire neighbourhood of new art galleries is side by side with shanty towns and poverty...I have been told it's quite...confusing, for lack of a better word.

In this shot, the particular irony lies in the Olympic slogan.

__________________
Whether we write or speak or do but look
We are ever unapparent. What we are
Cannot be transfused into word or book.
Our soul from us is infinitely far.
However much we give our thoughts the will
To be our soul and gesture it abroad,
Our hearts are incommunicable still.
In what we show ourselves we are ignored.
The abyss from soul to soul cannot be bridged
By any skill of thought or trick of seeming.
Unto our very selves we are abridged
When we would utter to our thought our being.
We are our dreams of ourselves, souls by gleams,
And each to each other dreams of others' dreams.

Fernando Pessoa, 1918

jorgelito

Looks like Los Angeles. This is nothing new nor is it restricted to China. Europe has lots of scenes like this too: Rome, Paris, Athens all have similar scenes.

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to the one that endures to the end."

"Demand more from yourself, more than anyone else could ever ask!"

- My recruiter

Charlatan

Just say thank you to the liberalization of their economy. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

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genuinegirly

That wall is there to hide reality. Pretty messed up. I viewed a similar dichotomy in Tahiti. But there was no wall hiding the shanties from the wealthy. What people don't see, they will be less motivated to change.

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QuasiMondo

Sorta reminds me of the contrast between West Orange and Newark, NJ. Amazing how quickly the scenery changes heading down S. Orange Ave from the neighborhood around Seton Hall University to the Vailsburg section.

That photo looks like two images merged.

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Craven Morehead

The Great Wall - ver. 2008

speshul-k

While it might not be anything new, it is still good to see reality shots like this.
Makes sure we keep our own feet on the ground and thankful for all that we have.

Baraka_Guru

I can't wait to see the next in the series with the Downtown Eastside area and Hastings Street in Vancouver for 2010. Or maybe they'll "fix" that beforehand.

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"The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. [...] In our age there is no such thing as 'keeping out of politics.' All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred, and schizophrenia. When the general atmosphere is bad, language must suffer."

—"Politics and the English Language," George Orwell

"Humankind cannot bear very much reality."

—"Burnt Norton," Four Quartets, T. S. Eliot

cybermike

While I doubt the validity of that picture, I have no doubt there are scenes exactly like this all over China.

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(All opinions subject to change without warning.)

"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it." - George Bernard Shaw

Sion

or maybe...The not-so-great Wall of China

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If you cannot pass 6th grade science, you are not qualified to have opinions about scientific issues. You can HAVE opinions. You just aren't qualified to have them; so keep them to yourself. -greytone

My loony bun is fine Benny Lava.

jorgelito

There absolutely are scenes like that all over China. As well as all over the world too. China is not unique in this However, they are a work in progress and by all accounts, have made remarkable strides.

__________________
"The race is not always to the swift, nor battle to the strong, but
to the one that endures to the end."

"Demand more from yourself, more than anyone else could ever ask!"

- My recruiter

Ananas

Potemkin Villages can be found all over. I don't think they're just a feature of capitalism or New World economy either -- the same photo could have been taken (or 'shopped) during the Communist period of China.

Maybe the so-called great divide between rich and poor isn't as wide as as we think.

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Some say love is a stream seeking its own course.