#jinan

[reasonsforhope]

"During the global coronavirus pandemic, China built dozens of makeshift hospitals and state quarantine centers, some out of steel container boxes. They became closely associated with the anxiety of mass testing and the fear of sudden lockdowns.

Now, cities are turning the huge centers into affordable housing units for young workers in an attempt to revive the country's economy post-COVID...

Just over a year ago, these apartments were used very differently: for medical triage and quarantine facilities. Beijing alone built 23 of these makeshift facilities, designed to hold up to 23,000 people at a time.

"It was not very cold yet but they told me to pack my belongings," remembers Hudson Li, a Beijing resident who was quarantined in one of these facilities, called fangcang in Chinese, in October 2022...

Less than two months after Li was quarantined, Beijing lifted most of its COVID restrictions. Li says he still associates the fangcang with a feeling of helplessness and fear: "It has been over a year already, but I definitely have PTSD from the pandemic, from the fear of scarcity and having to stock up on a lot of medicine and food."

Attracting young tenants with low rents

Now the fangcang across the country are undergoing a minor transformation and turned into apartment units for young graduates like Li. The changes are an effort from local authorities, who have been tasked with restarting economic growth and supporting small businesses after nearly three years of ruinous lockdowns.

Populous cities like Beijing are also trying to bridge the housing affordability gap between high real estate prices and low salaries, on average, for young workers. In the northeast corner of the capital city, near its airport, one fangcang with more than 4,900 units has been rebranded the "Jinzhan Colorful Community" — a reference to the bright hues of paint — and now offers amenities like a canteen where residents can grab a cheap meal before or after work.

Another fangcang facility, in the northeastern city of Jinan, has been turned into 650 units for skilled workers inside an industrial park.

"Given that the current overall [COVID] epidemic situation in the country has entered a low level, revitalizing the fangcang for other housing purposes is worth learning and thinking about all over the country," Yan Yuejin, a housing analyst, told Chinese media.

The fangcang, once a symbol of containment, are now supposed to represent dynamism and growth.

"I have complex feelings about this. The facilities were built using public funds and not rented out transparently," Li says. "But I do have to say you will not get anything more affordable than these apartments. They are very price competitive."

A list of rental prices for a Beijing fangcang converted into apartments shows most rooms are Rmb1200 (USD $170) a month, low for Beijing."

-via NPR, December 9, 2023

[akpaley]

It had to be done.

Base image generated by InspiroBot.

[plimchi]

attempt at drawing jinans animal form... not good at drawing animals but ey!

also did this hybrid version a long time ago but ill probably try to change it up sometime

[faggotfungus]

Bridge in Baotu Spring Park in Jinan, China by Ermell. Date: 19 May 2015

[compulsiveart]

Concept designs for Twisted Wonderland original characters.

[anamericaninhuaibei]

在济南旅游的最后一天晚上，我们在酒店后面的小巷子里居然发现一家地地道道的家常菜馆儿。河边的小桌子坐满了人，很多小朋友们也偷偷地在下面的河里玩水，气氛十分热闹。我们这夏天回国已经习惯于在大商场的豪华餐厅吃饭，扫码点餐什么的，但是在这儿吃感觉回到了一种更熟悉并舒服的过去。虽然上菜非常非常慢（真是每半个小时上一个菜，我们可能等了两三小时），但是总体的体验还是很难忘！

On our last night in Jinan, we unexpectedly stumbled upon a proper family restaurant in the alley right behind our hotel. The riverside tables were full of people, and there were also a bunch of kids sneaking down to play in the water below--the whole place had a really great atmosphere. Coming back to China this summer, we've got in the habit of eating at fancy restaurants in big malls and scanning QR codes to order food, but eating here brought us back to a more familiar and comfortable time. While the food was exceptionally slow (we were served one dish per half an hour and ended up waiting probably two-three hours in total), it was still an unforgettable experience overall!

[polyglot-thought]

[Mandarin->English]

趵突泉

bào tū quán

Spurting Spring

趵突泉baotuquan in jinan, shandong 

[awarucomic]

Postcard from Zhao Yutao in China. Arrived 20 September 2024.

Jinan is often called the "City of Springs" for its famous 72 artesian springs.

[antephotos]

Jinan, China

[dergarabedian]

Huawei lanza dos servicios de computación en la nube con inteligencia artificial

La empresa tecnológica china Huawei presentó los servicios de computación en la nube Ascend AI y Pangu Model 3.0, que apuntan a desbloquear el potencial de la inteligencia artificial (IA) para generar crecimiento en sectores diversos. Continue reading Untitled

[kevlo75]

#boardingschool #campusfrance Rennes attracts more than 65,000 students to its prestigious universities, such as the Rennes School of Business. As a student city, the population is quite young, with 60 percent of inhabitants in the city below forty years old.  #studentlife #rennes #brittany #saintmalo #doldebretagne #MontSaintMichel #jinan #exeter #rochester #setif #poznan (à Lycée Émile-Zola de Rennes) https://www.instagram.com/p/Co_7npprYzC/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[akpaley]

Penultimate session comic. Maybe at some point I will do an epilogue redesign. I've low key been thinking about one.

[plimchi]

i never shared these old doodles on tumblr?? at least i cant find them?? ayayay. theres a lot of stuff i need to export from my twitter tbh. and all the lore rambles too! (for archival purposes at least! if someones actually interested, thats just a bonus lmao)

[smkelly84]

CMMC: Calypso Colors

[compulsiveart]

Icon designs for some Twisted Wonderland original characters.

[anamericaninhuaibei]

再见，济南！

Until next time, Jinan!