Canal Project

Three years ago my Chinese family took me to a location where there was much digging in the ground. I thought it was related to the subway but the word should have been waterway. Then two years ago another Chinese family took me to the same location and I thought it was just more work on the subway, possibly a subway station. Yesterday I was taken back there again and it was obvious that this was no subway but a canal project, connecting two lakes. It wasn’t important to connect the lakes. The waterway was to define a huge commercial project of high rise apartments and high end stores and entertainment. Along one side of the canal was to be a six lane divided highway. That highway was to connect to a new bridge going across the smaller of the two lakes and tying into other main streets.

You can see the small lake in the upper left of the picture with the bridge being constructed across it. The canal now goes across the city section from the foot of the bridge to the small tip of the lake on the right. I got on bus 14 in front of where I live and rode it to the point where the small tip connects to the big lake. I got off and started walking and taking pictures. After about six pictures the batteries were dead. No problem I always have three more sets; two rechargeable and one otherwise. The two rechargeable sets were not charged and the otherwise set was missing, so I had no power for my camera. I walked about half a mile into the city and found some batteries. What you see in the above picture is just a tiny portion of a city of ten million people and 1000 lakes (give or take a few hundred) and two rivers.

There is the big lake. It disappears off into the horizon.

The picture shows the bridge where I got off the bus where the small tip on the map connects to the big lake.

Standing on the bridge I took a picture of the small tip looking away from the lake toward the canal project.

An attractive monument with many flowers marks the corner of a walkway along the water’s edge and the bridge.

On the other side of the bridge is an old four lane road that was improved. At the next bridge the street becomes new and is expanded to six lanes.

Here is the beginning of the canal at the end of the small tip of the large lake.

Just a few years ago there were city buildings sitting where that little boat is. They were torn down and the canal dug. There are more buildings being built behind the colorful wall.

I am going to stop my tour here today and ask you to come back next time and we will continue.