Night photography in a park in Tianjin

Here are some photos my girlfriend made some night, in a park in Tianjin. The park is built on a small hill made from garbage. Now there are trees flowers.

Strawberry Festival Beijing 2009

The May day celebrations this year featured a 3-day music festival in a park (Tongzhou Park) just outside Beijing. The annual "MIDI-Festival" was moved to another city this year, but the Strawberry Festival was a good substitute.


Large crowds gathered to see the popular Chinese rock and folk bands, but there were also international (American) bands who attracted mostly foreigners.



The Main Stage

DJ Liman

Colorful festival goers

More colorful party people

Crowd

Great way to spend a sunny weekend!

The Pet Conspiracy gave a great show!

Professional equipment. It seemed like everyone had a camera; and big ones too!
As this was the first time for this festival, everyone was eager to capture the atmosphere.

Rock couple :)

Note the tattoo, and the group of policemen watching :)

The main stage

Unusual fan

One of our friends, holding balloons

Out around Beijing

While my parents were visiting, I took them out around in Beijing. Every day something different.


Caught red handed! (or should I say red-faced...?)
This little yellow terrorist has been eating all the flowers, throwing them around the house, eating the remote controls and newspapers, and making lots of noise.

City gate South of Tian'anmen Square

City gate South of Tian'anmen Square by night

We walked around one of the many hutongs

People playing Go on a sunny spring afternoon. They don't seem to mind that they are sitting on a busy intersection (near Zhangzizhonglu) with the traffic rushing past them.

Too bad I didn't record the sound this dog was making. In the hutong that we walked in, it seemed like everyone and all the animals were staring at us.

The local fish vendor

These fish were still alive; sometimes jumping out onto the ground. That's as fresh as it gets around here.

Someone left a pair of yellow boots

Plastic bottle buyer. People walk all around the city to collect empty plastic bottles and sell them per kilo.

Piles of paper and cardboard are delivered in small carts and stacked onto this truck.

This car has no hood, a hole in the wind screen and a busted front.

We ended the day at "Li Qun's Beijing Roast Duck Restaurant". It is a famous place, and we had only one hour to eat. The roast duck was delicious.

By the front door guests can inspect 'their duck' being roasted

Lanterns

I title this photo: "Abbey Road" ~ it is actually policemen parading on Tian'anmen Square

Two girls asked if they could take a photo with my mother

More security forces on Tian'anmen Square

More Chinglish

Of course the nine pictures of my last post were not enough to please everyone, so here are a dozen more.

Chinglish can be literally found everywhere around China, and in the most unusual places (such as in the coffee bar I had a coffee today). I decided to bring my camera everywhere I go (including bars, supermarkets and public toilets) in order to capture the poetry of Chinglish.

See for yourself:

Truly huge bill-boards surrounding construction sites. They are all the same (most likely all licensed by the same company); in broken English and literal translations, they try to convince the passers by that their project will create an 'utopia', or 'paradise' and above all, a 'harmoneous society". They do this by putting these incredibly entertaining boards with English translations up all around the scaffolding.

"To bring the wealth in the untouchable way"
- "OK OK, if you insist!"

"I told them: NO STRIDING, but they wouldn't listen!"

"Vigorous Instruments Co., LTD
What on earth could those be?

SOD shampoo ~ no comments
(can be found in between Olive shampoo and Vaseline cream in most neighborhood shops)

A card that was slid under our door at night. We get one every night; and now have a pretty collection of 25+ of them. Last week we received the first one in English though. "baby service" is not the literal, as you might have guessed...
At least it is safe, private and fashion;....(see below)

This is the back of the card. Each of our stack of collected cards has a different 'lady' on them. Mind you that prostitution is strictly forbidden in China, and so these 'businesses' operate quite undercover, sliding cards under people's doors at nights.

Just a super slogan ;) ?
I just love my comfortable notebook and wouldn't have any other!

No touchy touchy! This sign was pasted on the wall of a museum

At least they state who their target group is, as clearly as can be...
If you look careful it says: "INartificial shampoo" ~ what a relief!
(this picture was taken by my good classmate from Helsinki Business Polytechnic in 2005)

...Imagine printing 1,000,000 labels before noticing the spelling mistake... ouch!~

"I'd love a bugger with chips & salad, some garilic bread and a Spenich mushroom, please"
Look carefully at the menu, under "maracont"...

by the way, be careful for the "Soya bugger" because it'll catch ya!

(I found this menu in Nepal, not China, but it fits in the 'Chinglish' chapter just the same, I guess)

BIMBO ~ what a brand name! :)

More BIMBO cookies (not donuts but donitas; so clever!

Lovely literal translation: Chinese - English (using a thick old dictionary)

Now, to be honest, this banner can be found in the '798 art district' (Google it if you don't know) of Beijing so some people must have noticed it and taken it there to exhibit it as a piece of art. It is beautiful Chinglish poetry just the same. Literal translation from Chinese to English and it sounds beautiful when read out slowly:

"Manages well the transportation hand in hand,
creates the civilized heart linked to heart"

When I can't sleep at nights, I try to unravel the meaning of these cryptic messages.
It's a bit like Indiana Jones, isn't it?

Here's another one:

"Chaoyang you and me to build a harmonious,
I share your civilization traffic"

(btw. Chaoyang is a district in Beijing)
"What is civilization traffic?" My friend asked me...