Nanchang Architecture - Day 7

Nanchang is beginning to grow on me. If I haven’t mentioned it, the gritty appearance and location on the water remind me of Buffalo. Today we made our first sightseeing tour of the Teng Wang Pavilion, one of three massive towers built south of the Yangtze River during the Tang Dynasty. It was rebuilt 26 times; the most recent reconstruction was done in 1989.

The tower is about two blocks from our hotel. Along the way, there are some remarkable shops with the most beautiful artwork and porcelain. It is an odd juxtaposition to the abject poverty that seems to be just steps away. We walked over with the group. The first photo is of Ileana and Claudine with the girls at the park. The grounds and tower are quite beautiful. We went to the top (a six-story elevator ride) and witnessed a classical Chinese music performance – the highlight was “Oh Susanna” being played on classical instruments. Very Chinese.

Ileana and I walked around the many terraces around the pavilion, each giving its own unique view of the city. The most overwhelming part of the experience was the odor coming from the nearby Gan River. The streets of Chicago have nothing on this "pleasure" that can be experienced six stories up.

We took some time to pose around the pavilion and Ileana and Sophie posed out front with one the lions at the base. At each Chinese building there are two lions. One is male (with a ball under its foot) and the other is female (with a cub under its paw).

From here, we came back to the hotel for Sophie to take one of her 100 scheduled naps of the day (o.k. I am exaggerating a little but it seems that this kid is scheduled to sleep every three hours).

In the meantime, I thought I’d blog on a little about some of the architecture around town. Of particular note are the decks! I have a co-worker, Pete, that has become the proclaimed “deck king” of our office (proclaimed by the assholes he sits next to and not by himself) Anyway, I thought I’d give a shout out to him and the folks at SGW with this tribute. Those of you that are not architecture die-hards can skip to the next blog.

The first two photos are of roof decks outside the hotel room. It is absolutely wacky. They build these concrete supports and place a whole bunch of concrete slabs across them to form a walkable deck surface. I don’t know what it’s for but I’d love to ask if I knew the language.

The second pic makes the roof of Chicago’s city hall look like a little pocket park. It is a true living deck. These folks do just about everything up here from growing their food, doing their laundry and taking an afternoon nap. I strongly suggest that Chi town get its shit together and begin requiring developers to put in these kinds of amenities.

Next is a deck at the pavilion. These completely surround this cruciform shaped pavilion at all 6 levels. In the immortal words of our optimistic intern, Andy, this is “f-ing sweet”. Believe it or not, this is a concrete cantilever. All that painted wood shit underneath – that’s all just for show. Actually, the whole building is made out of cast in place concrete. Not at all unlike what goes on in our office. Maybe the Chinese and the Americans aren’t so different in the way they build anyway.

The next photo is of the skyline note that these guys never finish anything – I bet that some of these things have been half-done for years. Oddly enough, there are worse looking buildings in Beijing with people living in them. Here, they are all vacant.

Finally, I don’t think this is an image of the Chinese version of a Casino – but this looks like the kind of place I’d like to go gamble it. Can you imagine the crazy shit that’s going on in those boats? I guess that’s enough for the architecture crap – I am sure all the grandmothers and aunts will now piss and moan that there aren’t enough pictures of Sophie. Well, I guess you’ll have to wait until the next bath time. Until then, enjoy those decks!

-Chris