And so it ends...

It has now been 12 months / 52 weeks / 366 days since we started the Nanchang 2012 project and it has finally come to an end.

It has been a great adventure entering this world of blipfoto.com and I for one have enjoyed it immensely.

The aim of the project was to record the life of a city, Nanchang, with one image a day for one year. We didn't set out to take beautiful or artistic photographs, though some have been. Rather we wanted to capture a wide variety of images that showed the people, culture and sights of this place. I believe this is the first time that such a project has been carried out in Nanchang and so I hope it will prove to be of some use to people 10, 20, 50 or even 100 years time as a historical record of one city for one year.

Thanks to all who have viewed our images and especially to those who left comments, all of which were a pleasure to read and of great encouragement. Personally I am continuing blipping but as this was strictly a 12 month project I have created my own blip journal, the first entry of which is here

So for this final blip...well Chinese kitchens are somewhat different to those common in the UK where I grew up. To begin with the counter tops are usually lower so when I had this one fitted in my apartment I had to ask them to raise it a few inches, which confused the carpenters, but if I didn't I'd end up with backache every time I washed up, chopped veg etc (at 6ft tall I often meet height-related problems in China).

Second, hobs generally only have two rings as opposed to the four rings most UK kitchens have. This seems rather strange considering how central food is to Chinese culture (the most common greeting here is Ni chi le ma? or Have you eaten yet?). I suppose it is to do with the fact that most dishes are stir-fried in woks so it is difficult to keep more than one wok on the go at a time if you're busy stirring whilst frying. The second ring is for anything that might be steamed (fish for example). On the hob you can see a wok and a steamer, and these two things pretty much live on the hobs of every Chinese kitchen rather than getting put away in cupboards. That's how important they are!

Third, the lack of an built-in oven. This is something that most westerners find to be the one of the biggest kitchen problems when moving to China as we roast and bake so much of our food. Thankfully little counter-top ovens are readily available and while they might not be big enough for a full Sunday Roast they are fine for day to day cooking. Mine is to the right of this photo. (microwaves are common here too. I do have one but it is out of shot)

Except for these most other things are the same. Cupboards, kettle, fridge-freezer... but if you are used to using a dishwasher then China might be a shock as they are practically unheard of here!

And why did I choose my kitchen as the final blip for this project? Well as I mentioned above food is central to Chinese culture (as football and the weather are to the English) and family is the foundation of everything here (though I think that is true everywhere). So a home kitchen just seemed the perfect thing to finish things off with. Also, the clock on the extractor fan reads 23.59 (I know it can't be seen clearly but it does) so that marks the final minute of this year and the final minute of this project. And did you notice the decanter and glass on the top just to the left of the hob? Well that's to celebrate the completion of this project and to welcome in the new year...a nice glass of single malt scotch :)

On behalf of all my fellow Nanchang 2012 blippers I wish you a very happy new year. I hope 2013 proves to be your best yet and we look forward to seeing you in 10 years for Nanchang 2022!

(by Andy Meek)

ps - and if I've forgotten to write anything I had planned to or if the above doesn't read well, blame the whisky ;)