The Chinese city of Zhuzhou, the second largest in the province of Hunan, is being pressed under the tremendous pressure of growth. Home to many a manufactory and textile mill, residents are seeking new ways to live close to work while preserving the spaciousness of the countryside. Thus, these wonderful photos of McMansion-style housing atop a five-story shopping center in the central district of Zhuzhou.
The four houses are perched above the city, invisible to street-level action. They do not cast a shadow on the ground, and seem to exist solely in the rarefied world of smoggy skies, with scenic views into the apartments surrounding their airy enclave. Though the landscaping around the houses leaves something to be desired, the overall approach is one we’d like to see replicated on blank and bare urban roofscapes everywhere. Now that’s mixed-use development.

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Carrying just a long cane, a Chinese farmer led the flock through a main street in Taizhou, Zhejiang, weaving around vehicles and pedestrians. During the half-mile walk, the farmer says he didn’t lose a single duck!

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Foot binding was the custom of binding the feet of young Chinese girls painfully tight to prevent further growth. The practice likely originated among court dancers in the early Song dynasty, but spread to upper class families and eventually became common among all classes. The tiny narrow feet were considered beautiful and to make a woman’s movements more feminine and dainty. Although reformers challenged the practice, it was not until the early 20th century that footbinding began dying out, partly from changing social conditions and partly as a result of anti-footbinding campaigns. Foot-binding resulted in lifelong disabilities for most of its subjects, and some elderly Chinese women still survive today with disabilities related to their bound feet.

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The Chinese knife massage is probably a treatment you’d only expect in hell, but in reality it’s said to increase blood flow, release the body’s stored energy and wash away harmful toxins. The treatment itself is pretty simple: all the therapist does is hold a couple of cleavers and strike the patient repeatedly with the sharp edge. No, don’t be horrified, there’s no blood involved. The trick is to bring down the cleaver with just the right amount of force, and then to not push or pull it once it touches skin. The up-and-down movement of the cleaver is said to release static energy, which leads to self- cure. “Chop, chop, chop, and the pain will go away,” is the motto that the knife therapists use to convince clients.

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Many people have prejudices about Chinese products, some are well- and some ill-rooted. The truth is that Chinese are very creative, and we will prove it to you in this post…

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Zhang Wuyi, a local farmer who is interested in scientific inventions, has successfully tested his self-made miniature submarine “Shuguang Hao.”
A 3.6 m (12 feet) long, 1.8 m (6 feet) high, and with a maximum diving depth of 20 m (65 feet), Wuyi’s submarine can travel at a speed of 20 km per hour for 10 hours underwater and is shaped as a dolphin.
“I hope to sell my submarine as a civil product at the price of about 100,000 yuan ($15,670) after safety tests, and a merchant has decided to order one in this month”, he told Reuters on Monday.
Wuyi is not the only invention-enthusiast in China. Many Chinese have even made their own helicopter, cannon, robot and more, using recycled materials.

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Chinese card throwing champion Baideng Chun can slice a cucumber in half by simply using a deck of cards. The amazing thing is that he is standing a few feet away as he hurls a single card at the vegetable and chops it in half. Don’t play 52 Pickup with this guy.

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These are Chinese women who have feet that are deformed as a result of the drastic measures that are taken to keep their feet small such as having their toes or arches broken and of course, of wearing shoes that are much too small. In China a sign of femininity for girls is to have small feet. The result is feet that are deformed.

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