Tag archives for China
Book Review – Chinese Turkestan by Ryan Pyle
Chinese Turkestan: A Photographic Journey Through an Ancient Civilization by Ryan Pyle My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is a relatively short book textually, it's mostly a collection of black and white photographs that Ryan Pyle took in Chinese Turkestan. Having read the book of his bike ride round China with his brother this book makes sense. It was clear from the Middle Kingdom Ride that Ryan was mesmerised by the clash of culture, tradition and modernity that Chinese Turkestan represents. The pictures are all amazing, and what you get from them is the sheer variety of life in this region. You also get a harsh but beautiful landscape and a way of life that doesn't look like it has changed in centuries, with little glimpses of modernity, a moped, or an electric motor. What the photos convey is how…
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Book Review – The Middle Kingdom Ride by Ryan Pyle & Chris Pyle
The Middle Kingdom Ride: Two Brothers, Two Motorcycles, One Epic Journey Around China by Ryan Pyle My rating: 4 of 5 stars I enjoyed the book, and am looking forward to watching the accompanying DVD as well. It is an interesting book, both because of the travelogue and the epic nature of the journey and because it has two authors. Both brothers have written their own point of view, based on their contemporary video diaries recorded at the end of each of the 60 days that they spent on the road (and in some cases off it) on the way round China. The book is very much a narrative of the journey and the effect it has on the brothers. There are lots of unusual aspects pointed out, like the fact that no-one seems to have a proper motorbike in…
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How to make a Chinese Dragon Hat pt.2
../ cont from How to make a Chinese Dragon Hat Step 5 - Undercoat When the PVA has all dried you need to undercoat the model you have built. You can use black, white or grey paint for this. Spray primer works really well. However if you are doing it manually mix a little PVA (1 part PVA to four parts paint) with the paint to help seal it in. The purpose of the undercoat stage is to cover up all the newsprint and get a solid base coat that you can decorate. In the end we used white paint (with a small amount of green in it as we intended to have a green dragon). You might need to do more than one undercoat to get an even coverage. We needed two coats before the text from the newsprint…
How to make a Chinese Dragon Hat pt.1
As most kids do, Alexander got some homework over the school holidays. His new teacher asked the class to make a crazy hat and bring it in, with a note that they would need it all year. We decided to make a Chinese Dragon Hat (mainly because Alexander is in China Class for Year 4). What you need to make a Chinese Dragon Hat cardboard (old cereal boxes or similar) scissors (large ones capable of cutting cardboard) tape (micropore is best if you have it, gaffer tape is also handy in places) an egg box (12 or more eggs are best) newspaper PVA Glue & a half-inch paintbrush Assorted paints (green, red, yellow, black & white) and brushes (glitter optional) Coloured paper (green, red, yellow for making scales) Coloured pipe cleaners (red, orange & yellow for make some fire breath)…