I'm confoosed

I'm sure that's exactly what that little girl is thinking. How could she not? Look at how many stalls there are! It's a giant labyrinth of fake Armani and somewhat-realistic Gucci and not-even-close-to-passable Dolce & Gabbana!

Somewhere near Silk Street, Beijing, Sept 08

Alleyway, Cheng Huang Miao

A wintry day in Cheng Huang Miao, right around the time of Chinese New Year (Feb 2008). CHM is supposed to be this 'old temple' area; in reality, the actual temple takes up about the same amount of space as an American park pavilion, and the rest of the place is a twisty windy tourist trap.

Phoenix Pavilion

Small temple tucked away in Inner Mongolia, Oct 2008

This pavilion has actually nothing to do with phoenixes; it's just what I think of when I see all these bold colors mashed together.

Actually, on second thought, the colors kind of remind me of Native American designs...and they employ phoenixes in their mythology, right?

Anyway, moral of the story: I like colors.

Old and New

Outside a famous Peking duck restaurant in Beijing. Despite its fame, the restaurant was nestled deep in the hutongs, and you had to know it to find it- it wasn't a walk-past kind of  place. I love this picture because I find it hilarious that after going on this huge adventure through old alleys and hutongs, trying to locate this legendary duck resto, we find some business-y dude chatting away on a cell phone right outside its doors.

After all that, the place was so tiny it could barely accommodate our party of 30. (Okay, maybe we did have a large group.) Its walls were wallpapered with photos of all the famous dignitaries that had passed through, all of whom have this sort of, just-take-the-picture-and-let-me-eat-already look on their face.

I particularly enjoyed the photo of a chubby, post-vice presidency Al Gore. You go, Al, you get your duck on.

Light the Night

Zhongshan Square, Dalian. The citibank was actually in Zhongshan; the Intercontinental and other building behind it were branched off of Youhao Square, one block west.

One of eighty-some new photos I uploaded to my flickr set of Dalian night scenes, which begins with this picture here.

Yay for catching up on pictures! I'm only 13 months behind now.

Though the Looking Glass

 Xinghai Beach through the slightly tinted windows of the 202 tram. Passed this site every day on the way to and from class at Dongcai. The elevated tram tracks made for a great view of the ocean, and on a clear day the visibility was so amazing you could see the rocks in the distance, and beyond.