geo-asia « Chine bLog

The first boats – they may be older – a lot older – than we think

Posted on June 15th, 2008

It has been an exciting few weeks for anyone interested in the origins of boats and boating, as we are here at Chine bLog. It turns out that humans may have discovered the ways of the maritime life long before science generally believed. First, I read a great article in the next to [...]

Malay Traditional Boat – the Malaysian Chine bLog?

Posted on February 15th, 2008

I tell you, say what you want about Google, its alerts tend to bring me exactly the kind of stuff I want. I never expected that there were than many folks like me who were so into traditional boats that they would spend their free time writing about them for all the world to [...]

Iraqi wooden boats part II – more canoes of the Ma’dan

Posted on January 19th, 2008

As I have said before, we bloggers are easy to please: give us a nice comment and we are set for a couple weeks. I was thus thrilled with the comment Suzie Alwash left on my recent post on the traditional wooden canoes of the Ma’dan (Marsh Arabs) of todays Southern Iraq. [...]

To Iraq – traditional canoes of the Ma’dan

Posted on January 12th, 2008

So I am going to wade into Iraq. Oh if you want to hear about the war, you’re at the wrong blog; I think there are about 3 million others who can oblige you on that one. No, we are staying true to topic here at Chine bLog. As I often say, [...]

Relief – The Smithsonian Folklife Festival delivers

Posted on June 30th, 2007

I called out the Smithsonian Folklife Festival recently and I am pleased to say I was wrong. There was indeed an exhibit on traditional boatbuilding along the Mekong, albeit one boat from one group of people. It was not a total loss, so bravo for not having the big miss I initially suspected.

The [...]

Stunning traditional boat images by San Francisco’s Lisa Kristine

Posted on May 15th, 2007

I recently had to go to a conference in Sonoma, CA. It was a rough assignment, what with all that wine tasting, but I managed to pull through. Along the way I stumbled on the gallery of Lisa Kristine, a San Francisco-based photographer. Ms. Kristine specializes in images of indigenous peoples and [...]

A new find – Vintas of the Southern Philippines

Posted on February 27th, 2007

In my effort to expand my knowledge of traditional craft from around the world I have resorted to deep, scientific inquiry: Google. And that led me to a definitive source: Wikipedia. I tell you – nothing but serious primary research here on Chine bLog! Anyway, I was looking in a [...]

The Degenhardt Foundation trains young boatbuilders in Vietnam

Posted on February 1st, 2007

It was nice to see my recent post on traditional boats from Vietnam caused a huge stir in the wooden boat world. No sooner did my post hit the ‘net than WoodenBoat had not one but TWO pieces on boat building there. I am DEAD sure there is a connection. Really.

I am [...]

And more – the Vietnam Wooden Boat Foundation

Posted on February 1st, 2007

WoodenBoat was also good enough to highlight the Vietnam Wooden Boat Foundation, which is:

Dedicated to preserving the maritime history of Vietnam with an emphasis on the art, craft, lore, and history of traditional Vietnamese wooden boat building.

I can buy into that. They seem to be small, but ambitious. They are collecting and [...]

Postcard from Vietnam – literally – a panorama of traditional boats

Posted on November 7th, 2006

My sister recently went to Vietnam and sent us this great postcard:

This is apparently a floating market, and, while no doubt somewhat touristy, this is still a country with emerging tourist infrastructure – its probably not too far off traditional maritime life. I like that there’s quite a diversity of boats, with small [...]

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