Barbie's House

The Barbie flagship store on Central Huaihai Road. Six stories of pink girliness.

Sweet snack

Hope everyone had a good Christmas.

This was taken at Erqi Square, close to the fabric market. I think this couple was mute, or deaf, or maybe both, but they sold the most delicious sticky rice snacks.

The guy would pack some special rice into the metal cylinder, and then the woman would put a lid on and let steam rise through it so that it would congeal (?). When it was finished, she would put a stick through a hole in the top, take the cylinder off, and coat it with sugar before handing it off to the customer.

At ten cents a piece, you better believe I bought in bulk.

Still Open

Wulumuqi Lu, Shanghai

This shop is located a block away from where I grew up in Shanghai, so it's a staple image of my childhood. I always see it on my way to the (not so super) market next door, or when I'm out getting my 70 cent, totally legal DVDs.

(This picture specifically was taken the night of my 20th birthday, while walking home from having drinks down the street at Zapata's. I celebrated becoming an adult, then went home via the streets of my childhood.)

Fixit Street, Qufu

A dusty street in Qufu (as they all are) where men waited by their respective tools of the trade and waited for any customer that needed a key copied or sole replaced.

It looks much better in laaaarge

Forlorn Vegetable Vendor

A night street in downtown Dalian, tucked behind the Zhongshan Hotel at Victory Plaza. Unlike some other shopping streets, this one offered solely foodstuffs- vegetables, fruits, chestnuts, noodles, pastries, chicken heads...you know, the usual.

But of course, with that much variety and competition on one street, times can get boring, and you're left staring at tomatoes as you wait for customers.

(I never came back to this street after the first night. I meant to, though. Shame.)

Steamy Night

The mildly famous 'top of the hill.' When I arrived in Dalian it was still winter, but as spring crept up the tiny restaurants set up their chuanr (like grilled kebabs) stands, all in a row. At night, in the chilly air, you could see the smoke from the chuanr as you walked up the Dawai hill, as crowds of people huddled for warmth around the coals.

The CPC Building

At least, that's what I always assumed it was. Located in the middle of Zhongshan Park, Dalian. 

The night I took this, my two best friends and I were walking back to Dawai from the place where they tutored (coincidentally, where I would end up living the next semester- Xinghai Ren Jia). They walked the route four or five times a week, and it took about an hour and a half. By the end of that semester, both of them had lost significant amounts of weight.

Paper Cuts

Vendor at the Muslim street market in Xi'an, February 08. I believe the woman cut at least some, if not all, of these herself. Paper cutting is an incredible art, especially at such a large scale, because it requires a good deal of foresight and nimble dexterity.

Old Shanghai Couple

[Click on the photo for full-size, better detail]

On one of the busiest streets in Shanghai, this adorable couple just rested as people rushed on by. With Shanghai constantly changing and becoming more 'modern', I wondered what the city had been like in their heyday. Would have love to known what they were thinking at this moment.

"Bottom of the Hill"

The "bottom of the hill" referred to the street at the base of the hill where Dawai was located. (For example: "Wanna grab lunch at bottom-of-the-hill Chinese?") There was a 24-hour karaoke place always brightly lit up- even though its sign proclaimed "25 Hour KTV". Every night the street vendors would face the KTV and ease their boredom by watching the music videos playing on the enormous outdoor screen.

Feeding Time at the (Student) Zoo

Taken at the middle/high school located beside my university (Dongcai). 

Every day, this couple would bring lunch to the students and pass it to them via the school gates. Because of the large amount of food and specificity of the orders, I believe the parties on both sides of the gates had an agreement in place for this daily routine. 

Admit it, with the iron bars and the frantic manner in which the students try to hand over money and get their food, you can't help but make the mental jump to "zoo".

Photo of the Day: The South Gate

The back walk-up to Dongcai, where I studied Chinese in the fall semester. I didn't live in the international student dorms so I had to commute every day; class ended daily at noon and I would usually walk through this gate to reach the 202 tram.

There were two other gates, Main and East, but this exit was lined with many cheap lunch-time food options. Not long after the semester began, I fell into a very predictable routine of going from class to the same noodle shop every day before heading back to my apartment.

The university and actual gate in this picture are past where the pink buildings are. For the record, this was probably the West Gate. I just labeled it South in my mind because it was on a downhill slope.

Photo of the Day: More for Sale

In Kaifaqu, which is the Development Zone about half an hour's lightrail away from the city center of Dalian. Where this picture was taken, there were two giant shopping malls, and of course an endless number of vendors setting up shop in between the two.

For about six straight weekends in the fall I taught English out here: Eight hours on Saturdays and six on Sundays. In the mornings I would go to that McDonald's for (horribly burnt) coffee then one of the side vendors for some fried dough strips filled with strawberry or red bean paste.

Photo of the Day: Street Harvest

In the fall, suddenly there were piles of green vegetables covering the streets. Mostly cabbage, but as you can see here, sometimes onions were collected too. Copious heads of cabbage were still lying about town, drying I assume, when I left in January.

Photo of the Day: Winding Down

Sunset in Dalian. The calm before the storm that is rush hour traffic.

Photo of the Day: Soup for sale, Xi'an

February 08; on Xi'an's Muslim Street- My relatives and I had stopped in Xi'an on our way home to Shanghai after spending Chinese New Year in Sichuan.

For about 50 US cents you'd get in a bowl the sweet date broth, as well as lemons, dates, kiwis, sweet fungus, etc. and a freshly cut up pear (though it tasted like a pear/apple hybrid). Sugary and warm, and perfect for a winter stroll.

(As an added bonus, but more because I find it hard to describe, here's what the final result looked like:)

Photo of the Day: Hopscotch

[Apologies for no picture yesterday, computer had a virus and wasn't letting me update]

Hopscotch Bar in Dalian, a chill dive bar and my favorite spot to hang out with friends. I like this picture because all I used was a simple point and shoot with a low ISO setting (and me standing extremely still) and I think it turned out well.

The city's a different place at night. Dingy lights and shoddy craftsmanship sometimes lead to the coziest hole-in-the-wall bars and restaurants. Down a few feet from Hopscotch there was a Muslim family running a noodle shop, and chuanr (kebab) stands are everywhere, adding to the smoke and dim lights of the city. I've also never felt safer walking through a city at night.

Photo of the Day: Nightly Exercise

Zhongshan Square, Dalian. However, this is a scene played out every night in all cities throughout China. (Apologies for the quality; it's a night shot and my camera was in its dying stages by September)

Photo of the Day: Chuar!

Seriously, NOTHING beats eating chuar on a warm September night. I mean come on, it's food on a stick! Though perhaps the memories I associate with chuar, especially the night of this picture, can't really be described....Fall was a good season in Dalian.
(This particular stand is by Olympic Square, next to JD's)

Photo of the Day: College Shopping

The Trust-Mart (like a Chinese version of Carrefour or Tesco) across the street from the side gates of Dongcai, our university