What shop is that?

How difficult is it to exist in China without understanding Chinese? Earlier I promised to post a range of photos showing shop fronts. I defy anyone who has no Chinese to identify these shops. Hint: most of them are restaurants and liquor/gift stores. And one is a foot massage shop - look for the feet!

Fish tank, LCD TV, Hairdresser

It's midnight in Jinan on a Saturday, and a large LCD TV lights up a fish tank in front of a hairdressing salon.

Street Scenes 3

Boys, and construction sites, and big pipes, just big enough so that you can crawl though. Irresistable!

Isn't it just the same in for every country in this world?

Street scenes 2

An man snoozes, waiting for instructions from someone to cart something somewhere on his nifty green tricycle truck.

This woman is waiting at a bus stop with her husband and baby.

I had to wait a long time to get this shot, but I just had to! Look carefully: the baby has a special bumflap which is always open.

Street scenes

Buildings that were there yesterday disappear almost overnight. Such is the might of a centralised government. The scavengers move in quickly and pick out the reinforced iron rods, and the aluminium from the rubble.

New tarmac also seems to appear overnight, with a bevy of labourers.

Children emerging from a bus that couldn't proceed any further down a footpath. Probably because of demolition rubble.

"Hello! Goodbye! What's your name? How are you?" Giggle giggle.

The class monitor leads the way with a red flag, under the guidance of his teacher. (In the background is an ubiquitous tricycle truck), lethal on the footpath.

A walk downtown

As my spirits were spiralling down dangerously, waiting trapped in my apartment for a colleague to get some keys back to me (that I had foolishly left in the staff room), I eventually set out in the afternoon in warm spring sunshine to explore the city.

I came back after several foot slogging hours, not really that impressed. Sorry, Jinan citizens! So far I find a grey, dirty, gritty city, that doesn't welcome a foreign visitor. I had hoped for much more. Cafes and restaurants seem to be subsumed by giant shopping buildings, and building with huge edifices, and little understanding can be made of the Chinese signs in front.

Although I teased James for eating Kentucky Fried Chicken recently, that is exactly what I found myself doing, in the absence of anything else obviously clean and inviting.

The only part of this excursion that was enjoyable was exploring a little of the "canal" (see photo) and a huge bookstore where I bought an English-Chinese dictionary for 1/10th the price I would have paid in Melbourne.

On dropping a parcel in a crowd, one person gruffly indicated my problem, but not one person bothered to assist me, although it was obvious I was having difficulties.

Here are some of the photos:

Boys going fishing.
Shoppers on a Saturday afternoon.


"At least I have my back to you!"

These old men playing a board game totally ignored me when I requested a photo.

I must explore this street - I think it has many restaurants in it. (Later - no, I was wrong).