Being a glutton for punishment, I’m going to give this another shot.  Let’s skip right to the photos!  (Again, in no order):

A panorama taken at the Opium War memorial (may be a giant download if Google didn’t downsize it).

Okay boy band dude, you’ve sold me on your spicey-rice-chicken-burger thing!

There are more American badged cars in China than in Colorado

A little history repurposing as Sally told me that this retro take on Mao uniforms are used to symbolize love between marriage partners.

There are condos being built all over the place.  I have no idea who is buying these things (they are not cheap dates), but the locals seem unconcerned so I guess it’s all good for now.

Food in the round; there’s always way more than can possibly be eaten by the number of people who can fit at the table.

Marriage coasters

A pano from the window of the condo of the future bride and groom (again, probably huge).

China sports some serious doors.  Even interior doors feature real doors with steel frames, dead bolts, and mounted into concrete.

I was getting no buzz from the local beer and these cans finally had the alcohol content on them.  Sally’s dad said that he would get me drunk yet, to which I replied that we were going to be there a long time if we’re just drinking 3.1 beer.

A resort/mall/? edifice that’s Tibetan themed

Chinese coastal development

The Hut

Scooters!

Strawberry farm

These strawberries don’t look ripe, but they’re actually done.  They’re crazy sweeter than anything stateside (only the green ones tasted ‘American’).  I never knew how a peach tasted until Mrs. Sandwich got a line on fresh Georgian peaches, and I can now say that I know what a strawberry tastes like.

Migrant workers painting a condo

Array of solar powered water heaters on top of a condo development

Drying/curing meat outside of a restaurant.

Some more pictures perhaps…

I’d buy these for my nephews if there was school in the USA that they could take them to without getting kicked out.

Condo sitting beside a construction bog.  It seems like labor is thrown at any project if they can get by without a machine.  I’m sure at some point in time this will be prettied up (well, not that sure), but outside the complex they had a crew of men doing prep on the road to be blacktopped with brooms and dustpans.

View away from the front of a hospital where I saw a dermatologist, got a prescription, and was in and out in ten minutes, all for the wallet ruining cost of ~$35.  The whole experience left me even more disenchanted with the American medical system than I already was.

You pick it, they cook it.

Weddings are a big deal all over, from what I hear.  It’s interesting that the spouse’s family is noticeably less well off than Sally’s family, but then so is most of the rest of the planet.  This ‘modest’ house would be a regular middle to upper middle class home in the U.S. and with hot water, indoor plumbing, flat screen TV, etc. I’d have to guess that they’re well on the upper side of ‘good’ in China.

The condos/house (in China there is no term for “condo” apparently) buildings exhibit a beauty from afar in China, but then as you get closer you find the facade applied to the concrete form buildings doesn’t hold up quite so well and that the locations lose some of their allure when there’s laundry hanging out of every window (to be fair, even the most expensive palaces have laundry hanging out their window)*.  Sometimes though there’s a real treat hanging out the window.

Here’s a Google shot of a building close to the location where I’m staying:

This building is, so far as I can tell, the highest condo tower in the city; so naturally the very highest floors will be held by an exclusive elite with the rest of the building populated by their hangers-on.  Here’s an exterior shot: