Jacques Brel - Amsterdam

Beautiful Changzhou

Before I forget, I promised some pictures of Changzhou (my city of residence)! Perhaps Changzhou is not as fascniating as Suzhou or Hangzhou, however I still think it has its charms (if you look long enough) :)

The only supermarket in the whole city centre! From this photo this, the supermarket's entrance looks like a massive manufacturing line (maybe it is...)

Yammi Frogs!

My house

Next time I will post more photos of both Changzhou and my neighbourhood.

Love

Marijn

Work

A bit later than anticipated, but here is finally my new post :). The last weeks we (all of the Eco City Staff) organised our concluding symposium. The event was a great success; we received between 200 and 300 guests, most of which were government officials from different Municipal and Provincial State Bureaus.

There were a range of presentations from national and international experts, which had/ have been involved in the Programme's activities. I reckon that everybody had a great time and I was lucky enough to have an interesting discussion with a representative from the German Embassy (you never know J ).

Last Thursday we had another meeting, this time more a kind of an evaluation workshop. However, this time it was my turn to present my findings on the Focus Group discussions I held among the residents/ end- beneficiaries of our Eco City Programme. Although, both these events were interesting and stimulating I am happy that all is over now.

The Chinese "Golden Week" is coming closer, which means that I will be enjoying a well-deserved one-week holiday! I am leaving with two friends to Xiamen, which according to an Indian friend I met in Harbin is the most relaxing city in China. I am very much looking forward to being there and I will definitely inform all of you on my experiences in the next posting!

Before I leave you to your own " Koninginnedag " I attached some photos of the old city of Yangzhou. The old city of Yangzhou has been restored with the help of the Programme and was for its preservation efforts rewarded with the UN Habitat Award.

I give you a lot of love and hope that everybody is looking forward to a beautiful summer!

Marijn

The houses have been restored in their traditional condition (i.e. original bricks, newly paved streets and doors restored to their original color/ shape etc)

Trees/ Plants have been planted to make the old city more liveable and prettier.

Beautiful Yangzhou

Amy Winehouse - Back to Black

Sharad Haksar

Sharad Haksar is great photographer, whose photos visualise the discourse of big multinationals in developing countries.

A billboard featuring the red Coca-Cola wall painting, commonly found across India. Directly preceding the Coca-Cola ad, and part of the billboard, is a dry water hand-pump, with empty vessels waiting to be filled up with water - a common scene in India.

Just did it.

Hi portfolio can be found here: http://www.sharadhaksar.com/

Springtime!

Dear all,

Its been some time again... Well, what can I say? I have been extremely busy the last few weeks organising and documenting focus groups and face- to face interviews for my German employer. A working day that consists of only 8 hours is currently as rare as finding a Westerner in Changzhou :). Anyways, that is no excuse for not writing you, of course!

The last few weeks I also rounded up my application process for PhDs in England. And I must say, that I was relatively successful :). I have so far received offers from Durham, London, Warwick and Manchester. The only problem that still remains is the funding… As a Dutch citizen I found out that it is rather difficult to receive awards for PhDs in the UK. If you have any tips/ recommendations, please do not hesitate to write them in the comments :)

The weather is slowly getting warmer here in Changzhou, which makes the city a lot more habitable. People in my neighbourhood start eating out on the streets again, old men playing cards and children running and chasing around. Life is a lot better with a tad of sun :). The city’s wakening from its deep winter sleep, also provides a unique opportunity to make pictures again. In my next posting I will upload some of my new pictures to give you a glimpse of beautiful (...) Changzhou.

Somebody emailed me some time ago to ask where Changzhou is exactly located. Well..., I found a small map of Jiangsu province (Nanjing is the capital) and posted it in this email.

That's that for now. It is starting to get late and tomorrow is another working day!

Take care and give a lot of love,


Marijn

Ps. Happy Passover/ Eastern!