Friday 19 July 2019

photos of Zhong Shan

Strictly speaking these are photos taken in Shun De (顺德) and not Zhong Shan (中山). In June I visited Zhong Shan in China and the surrounding area. It was a trip to visit relatives in China. We did sightseeing. This was a trip planned by two of my aunts. My parents signed up quite early and asked whether I wanted to join. I said yes. I had not gone on holiday with my parents for more than 25 years. We were a group of 15. Most group members were my uncles and aunts. There were only two members from my generation - a younger cousin and I. I did not specifically pay attention to boardgame related matters when in China. After I got back, I noticed some of the photos I took were related to playing games. Playing is a universal thing and is not only limited to These Games Of Ours.

Mahjong is one of the best known traditional games in China. When we were in Shun De, we visited the ancestral home of Bruce Lee. This is not exactly a hot tourist destination. It is not even open on a regular schedule. We had to make a reservation so that someone would open up the place for us. There were no other tourists when we were there. The house was in a sleepy village. We stopped by the village temple. This was a temple for ancestral worship. It was effectively the community centre of the village. Old folks gather here to play mahjong and to chill. This photo was taken at the temple.

The temple.

The main entrance.

My uncle sat down and looked like he was itching for a game.

A local sleeping at a mahjong table.

Ancestral plaques.

There were a few groups of people playing mahjong. They probably thought we were weird, but they didn't seem to mind us.

Vegetable hawkers at Feng Jian water village (逢简水乡). I wonder whether they were playing Fight the Landlord (斗地主), since there were exactly three of them.

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