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Monday, July 14, 2014

Still Shoe Shining in Hengyang, China

Last year I shared a shoe shining scene from over two and a half years ago in Hengyang, Hunan:

shoe shining on a sidewalk in Hengyang

Despite only spending a couple of days in Hengyang during my first visit and the long period of time since then, I thought I could find the same location and see what it looks like now. Would the shoeshiners still be there?

Yes.

shoeshiners waiting for customers at the same location in Hengyang

Like other comparisons of scenes from over two years ago and now in Hengyang, some change is noticeable. Most surprising to me was that I recognized one of the women. So I told her I had been there over 2 years ago, and she claimed to recognize me as well. Although I doubt I would have recognized her without having recently looked at the old photo, perhaps she did remember a foreigner taking her photo long ago. Whatever the case, after a friendly chat and a thorough "shoe shine", my sneakers almost looked like new.

woman smiling as she cleans a sneaker

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