Sweet Basil, Plainville, Connecticut

duck, 33 East St.

Asia Darbar, Plainville, Connecticut

Chicken Makhni superb in this Pakistani restaurant.

442 E. Main St.

New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut

Otis Kaye: Money, Mystery, and Mastery

The exhibition features thirty-four works that display a mastery of the highly realistic, trompe l’oeil technique in curious compositions of currency, letters, and other symbolic items that make reference to political, economic and social issues facing America, and Otis Kaye personally, during the first half of the twentieth-century. A 1909 law prohibited the display of currency, so much of his work was never shown.

W Hotel, Zhujiang New Town, Guangzhou, China

McLaren dealership

W Hotel lobby

Guangdong Museum, Zhujiang New Town, Guangzhou, China

Hong Kong's Rocco Design was building architect.  The museum opened in 2010.

Guangzhou New Library, Zhujiang New Town, Guangzhou, China

Conceived by Japanese architect Nikken Sekkei, Library facade designed to look like a heaped pile of books.  It opened in 2013.

Cemetery of Martyrs in Guangzhou Uprising, Garden Hotel District, Guangzhou, China

On December 11, 1927, Red Guard citizens, directed by Communist political leaders, took over Guangzhou (then known as Canton in English). The uprising occurred despite the strong objections of Communist military commanders such as Ye Ting, Ye Jianying and Xu Xiangqian. Using the element of surprise, rebel forces took over most of the city within hours, despite a huge numerical and technical advantage held by government troops. The Communist leaders officially renamed the city's political structure "Guangzhou Soviet."  However, the uprising was quickly crushed by warlord armies. Zhang Tailei, the leading Red Guard organizer, was killed in an ambush as he returned from a meeting. The takeover dissolved by the early morning of December 13, 1927.

tomb of martyrs at top of stairs

Garden Hotel, Garden Hotel District, Guangzhou, China

This famous hotel was opened in 1985 and designed by I.M. Pei.  There is a gold-foil marble mural named “Dream of the Red Chamber.” It recaptures the glamour of 12 beauties in the ancient land of Jinling.  

Guangzhou Opera House, New Town, Guangzhou, China

Not to be outdone by Beijing, Guangzhou called in Zaha Hadid

The Colonel is the new Chairman Mao.

Guangzhou International Finance Center, New Town, Guangzhou, China

The IFC garnerer RIBA's 2012 Lubetkin prize for best new building outside Europe.  The internal skeleton is composed of concrete-filled steel tubes arranged to form a patterned grid of 12-storey high diamonds, which minimizes steel tonnage.  Designed by London-based Wilkinson Eyre, it opened in 2008 and has 103 floors, houses the Four Seasons Hotel, and tops out at 1,439 ft.  To the East is it's twin, the 111-storey Chow Tai Fook Centre at 1,740 ft.

Canton Tower, Haizhu, Guangzhou, China

Opened in 2010, it was designed by Dutch duo Mark Hemel and Barbara Kuit.  It consists of 24 columns and 46 rings. It is 1,476 ft tall (1,969 with antenna).

Redtory, Tienhe, Guangzhou, China

Redtory is based on a rehab of an abandoned Soviet assisted factory (1958-2008) for canned goods.  The name relates to the red brick buildings.

Jacky and wife

360° , Redtory, Tienhe, Guangzhou, China

Design 360° is China's leading magazine on design culture and is the brainchild of Wang Shaoqiang, professor at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. Wang proviides a retail plaform for design artists that he champions.

Wang Shaoqiang's book