![]() The caves at Longmen, near Loyang in Henan province, were opened in 494 to mark the transfer of the Northern Wei capital to Loyang. When Buddhism became a popular religion, thousands of statues of Buddha were carved on the walls of caves. A few of those caves can be located near the city of Loyang, and are known as the Longmen caves or also the dragons gate. The sculptures there ranged in size and in one cave alone would be 10,000 statues of Buddha! The objective, however, was to gain religious merit for the ruler by reproducing and displaying the image of the Buddha; and at the same time to glorify and celebrate the ruler's power. The little boy left is about one meter tall. (over 100 photos of the grottos)
![]() Employers take the workers’ passports and travel papers upon their arrival. If a worker quits, strikes, or flees from an abusive situation, he will be unable to return home. With loans hanging over their heads, and a family depending upon every penny of their meager earnings, the workers are trapped. Skilled workers are reduced to performing demeaning labor; female domestic workers endure abuse and ill-treatment. They were workers unable to depart from Saudi Arabia and return home to their home countries. The workers stated that their employers had engaged in deceptive employment practices, and when the workers quit in protest, their companies refused to return their passports or grant them travel documents. Many workers seek to return home by getting deported. They form tent cities, and wait for the immigration police to pick them up and take them to a deportation center. Nearly a thousand workers live under the Sitteen Bridge, in the Kandara region of Jeddah, in a squalid encampment. They depend on a local mosque for drinking water; they have no sanitation facilities and no reliable source of food. ca 20 photos available (very diffecult to take photos in Saudi Arabia) ![]() explaining their view of the disarpearance of their homes Hutongs are settlements of compound houses lined in narrow alleyways. They are the homes and a way of life for Chinese families who have lived there for generations. This families are not poor or social cases, they are middle income workers, they simply enjoy the close friendly and social neighbouring relations. Due to modern urbanisation in China's big cities, the hutongs are fast disappering and the families are increasingly forced to live in high-rise, high cost appartments in anonymity. This mordernisation in living standards will change in the future the entire traditional cultural life. It remains to be seen if this is for the better or will it create huge social gaps. (over 100 photos, story in English & German available)
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September 2018
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