White Tiles &
Blue-tinted Windows

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Modern China invading ancient Kashgar, China — September 9, 2010


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Turpan Hotel, the Taj Mahal of bathroom tiles, Turpan, China — September 13, 2010


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Local hospital in white tiles and blue-tinted windows, Dūnhuáng, China — September 17, 2010


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Epic white-tiled, blue-tinted window building, Lánzhōu, China — September 19, 2010


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Local white-tile and blue-tinted window building, Lánzhōu, China — September 19, 2010


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My favorite building near Píngguǒyuán Station 苹果园站, Běijīng, China — July 3, 2006


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White tiles and blue tinted window, Xiàmén, China — November 4, 2007


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White tiles, Pingguoyaun, Běijīng, China — June 17, 2006

Although lacking blue-tinted windows, this building nonetheless is a beauty.

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Dūnhuáng, China — September 17, 2010


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White tiles and blue curtains, Kashgar, China — September 18, 2010

Interesting derivative of the classic look

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Old school white-tiled, blue-tinted window building, Jiāyùguān, China — September 18, 2010


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Coolest building award, Ürümqi, Xīnjiāng, China — September 6, 2010

It’s not a blue and white, but this gold-tinted building sure grabbed my attention.

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Beautiful white tiles, Lánzhōu, China — September 19, 2010

White tiles in all their glory.

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The many uses of vertical white tiles, Fènghuáng, Hunan, China — December 2, 2007


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Classic white tiles, Lánzhōu, China — September 19, 2010


White-tiles & blue-tinted windows

Why? This was a question I asked about these blue and white beauties during my first trip to China back in 2001.

“Face.” Jason then changed the subject to something less important, maybe about the upcoming Spring Festival.

On subsequent trips to China I noticed an alarming trend in the ever-changing big cities. The classic blues and whites have fallen out of style. Their beautiful facades are being scraped and replaced with ‘modern’ style— often mirrored glass or Ming-style architecture.

I knew I had to act fast. I set up the White-tiled, blue-tinted window preservation society to protect the magnificent builders from utter demise by the over-eager modernizing central planners.

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