空 - Sky II

Recently the sunsets have been quite stunning. 

Perhaps I should get up early sometime and photograph the sunrise too.

Everyone's mosquito eating friend!

Also, bat's are rather difficult to get in frame and focused.  This was the best shot (of a bat)of the evening.

空 - Sky

野良猫 - Feral Cat

 A rather intense feral cat in the neighborhood.  Very striking eyes.

Huzhou and Hangzhou

I spent Golden Week, a series of national holidays in Japan, visiting relatives in China. Much of China is undergoing rapid development and the cities of Huzhou and Hangzhou are no exception. More projects had been completed since my last visit to the area.

The first series of photos are from a historically themed park area in Huzhou.

An actual historical temple, built to house engravings from previous dynasties.

Hangzhou is a large city with many modern high rises.

Hangzhou also has 西湖 or 'West Lake' a popular tourist destination at which a glimpse of what China looked like can be seen.

鯉 - Koi

This absolutely beautiful fish was swimming in the local stream; likely it has escaped from someone's pond.

Another interesting thing that I have noticed after seeing a few of these colourful koi in the stream is that the fish are somewhat territorial or at least stay in the same area for some time. It's not something that you would notice with the regularly coloured koi as they are a uniform black with a silvery underside.

亀 - Turtle

This rather large turtle wasn't going any where, even though it's riding the bicycle.

Sakura

Spring has brought warmer temperatures;

the cherry trees have started to blossom.