I always thought that my preference in filters washed out any blue sky that had been in the original photograph. Turns out that’s not the case. There’s just very little blue sky in the rest of China.

So Tibetan Buddhist monks have debates; at this one there were more tourists than monks. It was unclear if grade inflation occurs; though it seems likely, given that the tests are administered by peers.

Urban planners and would-be “creative cluster” designers should take heart: in China, designing a walkable faux English village will attract huge amounts of… Wedding parties.

Thames Town is a development in Shanghai’s western suburbs that is designed to look like a replica of an old English village. The fact that it’s completely fake (there’s an empty, giant Church in the middle) doesn’t seem to really bother anyone involved in the photography bit. It’s one of approximately nine such developments (there’s a modern-ancient Chinese town in Zhujiajiao, and a Weimar Republic era town somewhere in the north). Thames Town has been in the news as an example of China’s wild property market: barely anyone actually lives here, even though most of the residential properties have been sold.

There is, however, a thriving industry of wedding photography, since young couples are eager to be photographed and photoshopped in an ersatz paradise. A quick scan through the town found that the only open commercial enterprises were a small cafe, and half a dozen wedding photography studios. On a nice day, the place is crawling with couples in kitschy wedding/period garb, and their photograph entourages. Companies that specialize in this charge Rmb4,000-6,000 for a two day photo shoot, which includes transportation and photo editing.

And here, in one shot, we see three separate parties:

So the new house is perfect for me, as the main room looks out onto this: