Shanghai Snail Sculptures

I walk past these metallic gastropods on the way to work every day.They appear to be made of some powder coated punched metal and sit across from the Shanghai World Financial Centre providing a distraction for drivers caught in the traffic that drives past them.During the week an article ran in a local paper about a massive 10 day traffic jam that runs from Beijing to Hebei Province in Northern China.
Meanwhile in Beijing it is predicted that by 2015 with about 7 million cars on the road in the city rush hour speeds will be reduced to about 15 kilometres per hour-not so much a rush as a snail crawl.


















I quite like this photo as the snails antennae are echoed in the buildings that surround them-the radio and television masts of the Oriental Pearl Tower in the left background and the assorted banks and financial buildings that cluster in the area.












Moments after arriving back from taking these shots ,the skies which had been black and menacing,did indeed open up.There was another brief but heavy bout of thunder and rainshowers.While they provide a short respite from the humidity and lower the temperature it is only a matter of minutes before the steamy summer conditions return.