Then and now….

Our friend Gaston from France sent this photo of his son at the Donkin Reserve in 1960. I don't know what the occasion was but it looks interesting, can you just hear the skirling of the pipes?and now, somewhat quieter recently, as the sun rose behind the monument.........

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Tianfeng Tower, Ningbo

Tianfeng Tower was built during 695 and 696 AD when Emperor Wu Zetiain was in power. The tower was destroyed in a war during the Jian Yan's reign from 1127 to 1130 AD. It was rebuilt in 1144 AD. In 1798 is was badly damaged in a fire and slowely started to erode badly in the extreme weather of the area. In 1984 the tower was extensively repaired to its original appearance in the Song Dynasty. The Tainfeng tower is…

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Reflections

See what happens when you are sitting in the car, waiting for someone, and getting bored? This is a view of the parking area at Fiveways Spar, reflected in the doors of one of the satellite stores, through the glass balcony panel!

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Tianyige Library, Ningbo

Ningbo's best known tourist attraction is Tianyige Library . It is tucked away in the vicinity of Moon Lake. Built in 1516 and said to be the oldest surviving library building in China, it was founded by Ming official Fan Qin. His collection went back to the eleventh century and included woodblock and handwritten copies of the Confucian classics, rare local histories and lists of the candidates successful in imperial examinations.You can visit the library's garden and buildings, some of…

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Roll on 2010 # 2

The roof trusses for the new soccer stadium being assembled on site. They will be lifted into place with the huge crane featured in yesterday's post.

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Ningbo, China

I returned from my visit to Ningbo in China yesterday afternoon with all good intentions in the world to do a post last night, but 31 hours of traveling and sitting in airports took its toll and I passed out before even switching the computer on.Over the next week or so I will do a series on Ningbo and its sights and attractions. Today is just an introductions and the description of Ningbo is thanks to Wikipedia.Ningbo (literally meaning "Tranquil…

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Roll on 2010

A visit to the site of the new 2010 Soccer World Cup stadium shows that great progress is being made to get it completed before the event. The giant crane to the left will be used to lift the massive roof trusses in place.I am sure that many a good soccer game will be played here.

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Church on the Hill

The Hill Presbytarian Church, as seen from the Donkin Reserve, is one of the iconic symbols of Port Elizabeth. It features in many pictures of the city that have been taken from below the hill or from the sea, from the 19th century to current times.

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Necessity is the mother of invention….

In response to yesterday's post, we received an e-mail from our recent guest photographer, Louise Eksteen. She wrote "Hi, Sue and Max! I felt so good when I saw your picture of the Donkin tonight – we DO seem to like the same things!" (Last time we saw them, we were the only 4 people at the promenade, mad enough to be braving a freezing gale to get shots of the wild spring tide!)They also tried to board Sagres, but…

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Donkin from the harbour

While we were visiting the beautiful ship Sagres, this unusual view of the Donkin Lighthouse presented itself, seen at sunset through an old metal warehouse structure.

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