After visiting more than my fair share of Chinese temples over the past five years I have become somewhat jaded to write about yet another (as one might become with churches in Europe also). They usually have the same layouts containing similarly styled statues which makes them a bit predictable but nevertheless good places for spending a relaxing hour or so.
While the dragon has historically served as China’s national emblem, in recent decades the panda has also come to serve as a symbol for the country; seemingly docile yet vicious if irritated. Due to farming, deforestation and other developments, the Giant Pandas natural habitat has significantly diminished and there are less than ~2000 pandas in the wild and ~200 in captivity.
A few weeks ago my younger brother visited me in Hong Kong and given it was his first time to China I decided to take him into the mainland and visit somewhere a little off the usual tourist trail. Our destination was Chengdu (成都), the capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China, for no other reason than it was somewhere I hadn’t been before!
In the past two weeks in China there have been two separate incidents of buses bursting into flames, firstly in Chengdu, then worryingly closer to home in Shenzhen (warning: links contain graphic photos). Tragically in the first instance 27 people died when they were trapped inside. There have been no official reasons given for the causes of the fires although there are a number of theories going around: Mechanical failure due to poor maintenance Air conditioning overheated in 30+ °C weather Passenger carrying flammable item / liquid Domestic terrorism (Tibetan independence groups etc.) When you combine any of these possible causes with the fact that most buses in China are usually horrendously overcrowded then you have a recipe for disaster. What makes it even…