Yep, it is a picture of a drain. This is typical and not unusual! One of the things you notice in China is that everything is done artistically - even drains. There is art, patterns, and planting in almost all the Chinese public buildings and their grounds. Every sidewalk I have walked is made of some pleasing pattern. Medians on highways are beautifully planted and not just a bunch of oleanders thrown out there to survive on their own, but the type of planting whose beds will be changed each season. There are potted plants on road overpasses and bridges. Last week our school brought in a truckload of really big rocks to place around the campus. Last night around 6 pm we watched 4 - 15ft trees get moved down the road in wheelbarrows to be planted somewhere else on campus. (The campus has a block size area where they grow different trees for later use.) I just wish all this beautiful landscaping would inspire me to try to grow grass one more time in my front yard but unfortunately it would be a futile effort with my dog Sadie.
