China

China, a sim by aston Leisen, enjoys enduring and deserved popularity in Second Life. There's very little in China, and that's part of what gives it its beauty: we focus on only a few things, and the entire scene looks as though it's been ink wash painted on xuan, or unsized rice paper. In the sky, mountains and clouds converge, and on the land trees and houses were perhaps created with quick strokes of a calligraphy brush. The images seen here show the default windlight setting, but one can create remarkable monotone images here that highlight lines and shading. Push your draw distance up.

If you look around a little, you'll find a teleporter that takes you down to the ground level, an entirely different area and home to the Open Media Lab. Here are several little vignettes such as the one below (Another Rainy) into which you can directly teleport. To return to the original location, select Bamboo.