tarboat's photos with the keyword: xian

Speculative apartment developments such as these at Xian are typical of modern China. A massive building boom has caused every city to be surrounded by tower blocks built on borrowed money. The problem is that there are far more apartments than buyers/renters and vast numbers stand empty whilst yet more are built nearby. I can only see this ending in some sort of financial collapse in the building industry in China. For now it provides employment for thousands, probably millions.

This water tower in Xian was once one of the tallest buildings in the city. It now stands in the shadow of the massed apartment blocks. Seen from the city walls.

Muslim night market down the back lanes of Xian. The kebab stall was in full production.

A grab shot from the bus on the way back from seeing the terracotta warriors. This power station was built in two stages - 250 MW in two 125 MW units coming on line during 2003, and then two 300 MW units in 2008. The earlier units with their two smaller cooling towers are off to the right and not visible here. It is operated by the Datang Shaanxi Power Generation Co.