New Year's Eve in Seoul, Korea

Submitted by Gyubin Lee

There are several ways Koreans celebrate the arrival of the New Year. Seoul is home to Bosingak, a landmark in Jongno-gu famous for its festive atmosphere this time of year, and that’s where this recording was made.

Each December 31, this place gets crowded with people who travel from all parts of the country to celebrate together. It’s always frigid, but people don’t seem to mind the weather when they’re all gathered to celebrate. As midnight approaches, people get more and more excited for the last moments of the year. Then the countdown begins, and everyone joins in by shouting out in unison. At the stroke of midnight, you hear a roar as everyone starts shouting out greetings to usher in 2021.

Street Hawkers in Bangladesh

Submitted by Tasfia Tamanna

Countless hawkers set up small stalls on the street of Dhaka, Bangladesh each day. They’re found in congested public areas plying their trade. They earn a living on the busy streets, often unprotected from the elements. They sell clothes, toys, fruits, vegetables, and various household goods and health remedies, usually at prices lower than nearby shops.

Despite the already low proces, people like to barter. The vendors often make outlandish claims about the properties of their wares. In this soundscape, you can hear a recording played on a loop extolling the incredible power of a cockroach repelling device. The recording warns people not to fall asleep tonight unless they use this device, because they might wake up with cockroaches nesting in their ears! The recording tells men that unless they buy one now, tomorrow’s dinner will be ruined because cockroaches will be feasting on it first.

The next vendor is selling mosquito repellent for 40 takas , and next to him a man is asking 150 takas for wooden incense sticks, claiming this is the best price in the city. Of course, this couldn’t be a recoding of Dhaka without the ubiquitious roar of traffic: motorcycles, scooters, and horns!

Early Morning Adhan

Submitted by Zarifa Haq Miti

On the recording, we can hear the Adhan, the call to prayer for Muslims, as several mosques start the call simultaneously. This is quite common in Dhaka, a place findly known as the “City of Mosques”.

We can hear the sound of rickshaw bells, children playing, and the sound of Adhan. There is something very soothing about the sound of Adhan although another mosque starts its Adhan simultaneously in this recording, yet it seems as if it's the same person from the same mosque.

Also, the sound of children playing in the background is quite noticeable since it was recorded from when the sun was going down. Children in Bangladesh usually play with their friends outside during the afternoon and are expected to return home right before the Magrib prayer (sunset prayer). This is an integral part of their childhood as playing outdoors helps with their overall development. The city of Dhaka is also full of interesting transportation systems and vehicles, which gives us such striking noises. Although we cannot hear the noise of cars in the metropolitan city, we can distinctly hear the rickshaws in the distance…

“A Splendid Caper”: Dhaka Fair

Submitted by Mohammed Woasi Anwar

In this recording we hear the cacophony of sounds from the Banijjo Mela fair, the most happening fair on the calendar this year in the capital. You hear crowds of people chatting excitedly punctuated by the din of toy horns and various musical instruments (similar to flutes) being demonstrated by vendors. Dhaka International Trade Fair is underway nearby, so the whole district is packed with families enjoying a day out. The fair is a great place to enjoy live music, taste some heavenly food at the many stalls, and take part in a splendid shopping caper! If you’re looking for some cricket gear, this is the place to be today!

Busy Dhaka Streets by Night

Submitted by: Shafayat Rahgir

This audio recording was made on a typical night on a busy thoroughfare in downtown Dhaka, Bangladesh. We can hear vehicle horns, rickshaw bells, voices, and in the background the sound of street vendors promoting their products on loudspeakers.

The soundscape of streets like this in Bangladesh are quite interesting. Due to very high population density, there is a lot of traffic around the clock here. Streets are shared by large trucks, public busses, cars, three-wheeled pedal-powered rickshaws, small compressed natural gas-powered taxis, pedestrians, and animals, all moving in concert.

However, there’s one big difference here. Although there are plenty of traffic rules and regulations, they’re often ignored. Traffic lights are just a formality, and one that nobody pays much attention to. Instead, we rely on traffic police to keep things moving. Although things might look (and sound) chaotic, people have adapted and the whole system somehow works!

A monk, a bell, a drum: Putuo

Submitted by: Jonathan Shaw

Situated at the foot of Fenghuang (Phoenix) Mountain in Dongkeng Village, Putuo Temple is one of Zhuhai’s most ornate and serene temples. A series of wide courtyards offer a place for quiet contemplation. As monks gather to offer prayers, the silence is broken by the sounds of bells and drums.

Bamboo Copse, BNUZ Campus

The expansive campus of Beijing Normal University Zhuhai (BNUZ) offers many opportunities to take a break from class and enjoy nature. In this reording, taken at dusk on a summer evening, we hear a chorus of cicadas and birds in a dark bamboo copse on the edge of campus.

Street Vendor in Dhaka

Street vendor in Dhaka, Bangladesh

This is the audio of a street vendor in the streets of Dhaka. These kinds of vendors open their shops after the sun sets, around 6 pm, and usually stay on the street as late as 10:30 pm. They set up small stalls beside the street and advertises their products over loudspeakers. The night sounds of the streets of Dhaka are filled with car horns and loudspeakers of such vendors. These vendors try to attract commuters and other office workers who leave their offices to return home. They sell a wide variety of products, especially men’s items such as wallets, moneybags, keyrings, cologne, hair gel, and hair oils. The most interesting part about these vendors is that they make wild exaggerated claims about their products. For example, the man in the picture is selling small containers of perfumes. He is claiming that the perfume contains special chemicals that can keep the person wearing it happy throughout the day. Wearing the perfume will help solve any family arguments or quarrels. There are other vendors selling wallets claiming that their wallets are completely theft-proof, and vendors selling hair oils claim that their oil can give a bald person dense bushy hair in just a week. Because the vendors sell their products on the streets, they do not actually have to rent out stores or pay any sort of taxes on their sales. So, they sell their products at very cheap prices. This attracts a lot of customers who are looking to buy cheaper alternatives of the products which they cannot afford from the local shops.

Recording, photgraphy, and description by Rahabar Mahmud

Fish Market in Bangladesh

Fish market in Bangladesh

Fish markets are one of the most interesting places in Bangladesh. The fishermen catch fish and then bring them over to the fish markets at about 6 am in morning. The marketplaces get crowded with people from the surrounding neighborhoods. During the early morning periods, the markets get so crowded that there are more people in the markets than fish. So, the shopkeepers start auctioning away the fish. In this audio, we can hear the shopkeeper first asking the people how much they are willing to pay for the fish per kilogram. Then, they take that price as the base price and start shouting the price. Whenever someone shouts a higher price, they start shouting out the next new highest price. This incrementation of the price goes on until no one else is willing to pay as much as the highest bidder. Fish markets get really crowded and people start pushing each other to try to get ahead in line amongst the crowd. These markets usually open at 6 am in morning, and everything gets sold out by 8 am.

Recording, photograph, and description by: Rahabar Mahmud

Last Hoops in Guangzhou

Basketball court in Guangzhou, China

Description

It’s a sweltering night at an outdoor sports facility in downtown Guangzhou, China. The complex is surrounded by tall apartment buildings, and office towers in the finincial district are visible in the distance. Rows of bright lights illuminate a number of basketball courts and soccer pitches in the sports complex. A pre-recorded announcement is played over the public address system, first in Mandarin then follwed by Cantonese and English, advising that the facility is about to close for the night. The English announcement begins “Dear friends, the opening hours of today are about to finish”. In the background, we hear several groups of young people playing half-court basketball. There are balls bouncing, the high-pitched squeak of rubber soles on the shiny playing surface, and the shouts and calls of players on the courts and their supporters sitting along the sidelines.