China Wakes: Bamboo <b>scaffolding</b>, the ultimate culture shock

The one thing that really jumped out at me within minutes of stepping off the train the night I arrived in Hong Kong on my recent visit was the bamboo scaffolding.

Perhaps its because I am the son, grandson and great-grandson of contractors. Or maybe its because I spent my summers during high school building steel staffolding for my dad's crews as a part-time job. Whatever the reason, I found myself absolutely fascinated by the skyscrappers built of what from a distance looks like popsicle sticks, but upon closer inspection is in fact bamboo tied together by nimble Chinese labors scrammbling up and down without harness.

Its truly an amazing sight of modern engineering that an innovative and modern skyscape like Hong Kong's could be born from such a 19th century building technique!

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Synergy Aluminium Scaffolding Tower

365 China Photo: One-A-Day » Scary <b>Scaffolding</b>

I got up at 5am for an early flight to Jinjiang in Southern China. I had been there a few months earlier and was going back to meet another prospective new client. People often refer to Jinjiang as the “Brand City” as it claims to have the most brands headquartered in the town. The client took us to their new headquarters and factory, which was under construction. It was a huge and impressive building, but what I found interesting was the scaffolding. The builders were using steel scaffolding, but had used bamboo slats for the floor of the walkway. It looked a bit patchy and makeshift in places, but actually bamboo is one of the strongest natural materials. It is still used in Hong Kong and favoured over steel scaffolding for most developments even skyscrapers. I think what amazed me was the confidence of the workers to move around at such heights without much regard to safety. However, this is not uncommon in China, where health and safety conditions lag behind western regulations.

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Synergy Aluminium Scaffolding Tower