On a recent trip to a more rural, traditional part of the country, Guilin ( 桂林）and surrounding areas, it came to my attention that the Chinese people like to add character in their streets using the humble lamp post.
In almost every other town or city lamp post are uniformed, orderly, cheap and efficient. Normally the Chinese people have this same attribute however in rural small areas they believe form is a greater asset than function.
On this trip there were many styles of lamp post, from lantern shaped ones, to standard ones but with a painting, or perhaps a kink in the post, up to, LED tree hung lamps that appeared like water falls, canopies that made night stars and planets, then all the way to out right eccentric.
It just shows that in a world that is trying to become a standardized place, sometimes breaking that rule makes a great difference in the feel and atmosphere of the area.
