Contrast

China is a modern place. This shopping street has some top name brand stores. It has Sephora, Starbucks, H&M, and other trendy expensive places to shop.

But the traditional has not gone away completely. This lady and her daughter (not pictured) sell twisted fried dough sticks (similar to donuts) and candied fruit kebabs.

These two pictures were taken within a block of each other.

Street Scenes in Beijing

I'm was in Beijing a week ago. (I'm not there now, but will be there again soon.) Here are a few street scenes for you. Here's the traditional 3-wheeler with a wheelbarrow on back. This wheelbarrow is covered by a shelf that holds various goods. The owner is trying to sell the goods to those who walk by on the street. This type of mobile store must be effective, because there are lots of these in China.

Breakfast, cooked while you wait at a street vendor's outdoor kitchen!

Beijing's traditional architectural design is different that in other parts of China. In Beijing, you see lots of eaves that are painted in similar colors and patterns as the one above.

On a cold March Beijing morning, an elderly man returns home after buying a day's worth of veggies. All these photos were taken on back streets near residential areas; these are not taken on main city streets.

This guy sells bottled water, soft drinks and souvenirs. His shop is located near a tourist site. Because Beijing is rich in history, just about everywhere in Beijing is near a tourist site.

Do I want to buy a bag with the founder of modern China on it? The guy responsible for arrogant policies that resulted in the death of millions of his own people? Uh, no, I think I'll pass. Thanks for asking though.

Old Beijing

I am in Beijing for a week. Here is Qianmen (Chee-en-men, literally means Front Gate), at the south end of Tian'anmen Square. I couldn't get onto the square the day I was in the area, because of political meetings going on across the street (no one was allowed on the square except a few police and/or soldiers).

Though spring's arrival is only two days' away, there is no sign of spring going on here. The city looks old, dusty and tired. Like the way I feel.

Beijing is full of interesting historical sights. I've seen them all. And though I feel guilty for not seeing the Great Wall every time I come to this city, the facts are like this (1) Who would think such a beautiful sight could get "old" after a few dozen visit? It does though; and (2) I went once before in March. It is not very photogenic in March.

So I do what most visitors to Beijing do. I go shopping (window shopping really, I bought a cardigan and nothing else), and go to Starbucks.

Even Starbucks can get boring after awhile. Most of the time when you are inside of one, you have no idea if you are in Dallas, Moscow, or London. However....

The sensitive souls who put together the Starbucks on Qian Men Pedestrian street should be applauded for the authentic Chinese furniture and architecture used for their Starbucks. It's lovely (above).

In Chinese, "Bu Xing" (boo-shing) can mean, according to the context/tone, pedestrian or it can mean "not okay." So, for fun I call pedestrian streets, "Not Okay Streets."

This is my Mom

My mother's birthday was December 22nd. I was traveling by air that day, which means I wasn't feeling well, which means I didn't get up a post that day to say Happy Birthday to her. {I did call her though.} Anyway, in lieu of a birthday post, I'll put up this post of her in honor of International Women's Day. I'm just one day late.

Isn't she pretty?! :-) Let's just hope she's not too annoyed that I put these pictures up without asking her first!!!

This is a photo of my mom when she was even younger. She is pictured with her two younger sisters. Another sister, Joyce, was eight years older and not pictured here.

I don't have many other old family photos, so if any family members or even old friends are reading this and have some old photos, please scan some and send them to me. Alternately, you could put them up on a Flickr account and I can get them from there.

This past week I was cleaning my office. I shredded papers, threw out old files, and scanned lots of things...including these photos. It's still cold outside, so it's a good time to catch up on indoor activities.