Thousands of Americans Remembered at a Memorial in South Korea

The War Memorial of Korea in Seoul covers thousands of years of Korean military history, with an emphasis on the Korean War. One particularly affecting section of the memorial displays the names of service members & police of the Republic of Korea who were killed in various wars & conflicts and the names of service members in the United Nations Forces who were killed in the Korean War.

For today's Memorial Day in the United States, below are some photos taken this past weekend that capture portions of the display with more than thirty-thousand names of Americans "whose noble service and ultimate sacrifice preserved the freedom of the Republic of Korea".

Two More Mother's Day Promotions in China

This year I have no stories to share of Mother's Day promotions involving fashion shows or QR codes in China, though I would bet examples exist. The rain and a desire for some rest ensured my explorations were limited today in Guiyang. Yesterday, though, I saw a beauty salon's "Super Mummy" promotion at the Century Golden Mall* (世纪汇金广场) where live sessions were displayed on a large screen.

And today I saw a children's clothing store at the Hunter City Mall (亨特城市广场) with a simple Mother's Day sale.

That's all from me on this holiday. Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers.




* "Century Golden" is prominently displayed next to the mall's Chinese name on the building. However, a much smaller outdoor sign used the English name "Golden Plaza", and online I have seen "Huijin ONE Mall" used.

The Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street in Guangzhou During the Qingming Festival

Many people in China remembered deceased family members during the recent Qingming Festival. Highlighting another side of how some spent the day, which for many was part of a three day holiday, a series of photos taken at the Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street in Guangzhou appears below. One of the popular destinations for tourists visiting Guangzhou, the area was much more crowded than usual for a weekday though there were few signs of the holiday itself. The photos include both people who didn't have to work during that afternoon and people who did.

One of the wider portions of the street

Carrying a coconut to drink

Standing in line for Mango Big Mac drinks and stuffed chicken wings

Standing in line for fish balls

Preparing the fish balls

Keeping things clean

Selling fruit

Driving the bus on a portion of the pedestrian street which isn't as pedestrian-friendly as others

Providing security (and stopping people from riding bikes)

Riding high

Riding low

Riding somewhere in between

A few wore face masks

Walking

Photographing

Burning with Spirit During Qingming in Guangzhou

Today on an old street in Guangzhou some iPhones, watches, and shoes burned.

New clothing was added to the fire.

And more items, such as money and cigarettes, were added.

And the fire burned on.

Eventually, all that was left of the items was a pile of ash.

Water fully put out the burning.

And there was a quick cleanup of what remained.

Had the family needed more to burn, a shop just a short walk away offered plenty of options.

All of the items were paper replicas — part of a tradition of sending needed items to ancestors in the afterlife. Today was Qingming, Tomb-Sweeping Day, and many similar offering were made elsewhere in Guangzhou and the rest of China. Even if your beliefs differ, watching the burnings can feel cathartic.

A Soda for April 1st

April Fool's Day was unusually quiet for me. I had an idea lined up for here, but shortly after starting the post I wondered if it took things too far for my tastes. I didn't have a clear answer, which I figured was enough of an answer. I won't reveal the post, because my tastes may change in the future. I had other ideas, but then the internet slowed to a near halt. Seemed like a sign.

Instead I will pass on something I shared with my brother on that day. I wouldn't call it an April Fool's Day joke, though. We could have an interaction like this any day.

I told him I had found a great shirt for his young kid at a children's clothing market in Guangzhou but wanted to check something with him before buying it.

"He likes soda, right?"

I then shared a photo of the child-sized shirt.

And now onto April 3rd matters . . .

Two Creative Year of the Rooster Promotions in Hong Kong

As in Jieyang, Zhuhai, Zhongshan, and Macau, I saw many artistic depictions of chickens in Hong Kong to welcome in the Year of the Rooster. I will share two of the more creative examples I saw there.

The first was one of several sculptures in a Lunar New Year promotion involving the local designer Eric So and MT masking tape at the iSquare shopping mall in Tsim Sha Tsui.

I am going to take the liberty of naming it "Fowl Happiness".

The other chickens were in an advertisement for Apple I saw in Causeway Bay. It featured a piece of art made with the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil. As I noted before, it isn't clear in many cases whether the chicken depicted is specifically a rooster or a hen. In this case, I think there is one of each, though the rooster is more prominent.

No witty (or less than witty) name is coming to mind, but fortunately the artist Victo Ngai provided a namer of her own: Apple Lucky Rooster. Follow the link for some details about the creative process behind the piece and photos of some other locations where it appeared.

Three Lunar New Year Displays in Zhongshan

Since the previous post about an advertisement for plastic surgery touched on the topic of the Lunar New Year in Zhongshan, I will take this opportunity to share just a few of the holiday displays I stumbled upon there about a month ago.

The first one includes a large decorated government building.

A variety of government organizations are based there, including the Zhongshan City National People's Congress Standing Committee and the Zhongshan City Committee of the China Association for Promoting Democracy. Yes, they promote "democracy" in China. In fact, "democracy" is one of China's 12 "core socialist values". If this confuses you, I understand. I will say more on this topic later. For now, more holiday displays . . .

The next one was at Yixian Lake Park.

As far as I know, no meetings promoting democracy occur here, but the park does have a provocative cartoon museum.

Despite exhibiting fine holiday spirit, neither of the previous two displays include the all important zodiac animal for the new lunar year. The last example resolves this issue with an impressive rooster.

I considered it might be the mythical fenghuang, which is sometimes used instead of the rooster. But given several rooster-ish features I am going with it being a rooster. Whatever it is, the display stood in front of the South Gate at Zimaling Park. The park has neither any obvious democracy promoting activities nor a cartoon museum. But it does have a tower, a small part of which can be seen behind the display in the photo, offering a bird's-eye view of Zhongshan including both urban areas and tree-covered mountains.

Advertising Lunar New Year Plastic Surgery in Zhongshan

About two years ago, I mentioned a promotion in Zhongshan for lip hair removal services by the AIST "beauty hospital". The use of flowers to make a mustache around a large photos of a woman's lips was one notable aspect. The promotion occurring on International Women's Day was another.

Recently, I saw a new advertisement for AIST at several street-side locations in Zhongshan.

As the rooster suggests, the ad was for the Lunar New Year. The message expressed by the large red characters "不俏不過年" may be less clear though. Several Chinese speakers I asked, including a translator, expressed confusion over its meaning. After thinking about it more, I now suspect fully appreciating the unusual message requires recognizing an implication which wouldn't leap out to everybody. My current translation would be "If you're not pretty, don't celebrate the Lunar New Year." The unsaid implication is that the long holiday would be a good time to recover from plastic surgery, which some people consider.

The phrase in the red box also intrigued me. I see it used in some places for the practice of combining astrology and plastic surgery, which could connect to the Lunar New Year theme as well.

So, I have a basic story for the ad but am not sure it is the right one. I would be interested to speak to the ad's creators about their intentions. I would also be interested to know how their target audience, which might not include any of the few people I asked, interpreted the ad.

But I won't be digging into this further. However, as always, I would be happy to hear from any readers. At the very least, I feel safe in saying that the ad isn't about plastic surgery for chickens.

Tangerine Trash in Macau

You know the Lunar New Year is really over when the tangerine pickup period has passed in Macau.

Swatching and Listening to Valentine's Day in Hong Kong

Promotion two days ago at the Kai Chiu Road Swatch store in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Local Colors: Macau's Year of the Rooster Parade Floats

As in previous years Macau held parades for the Lunar New Year.  According to the Macao Government Tourist Office this year's "Parade for Celebration of the Year of the Rooster" went:

. . . under the theme of “All Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix for the Dawn of Spring” this year. In the story, birds of all kinds gather in Macao to welcome the phoenix, which breaks through the golden eggshell and bestows wishes of happiness, good fortune, longevity and prosperity to residents and visitors in Macao at the dawn of Chinese New Year. Marching across streets and plazas imbued with local color, the float parade continues to shine as a major highlight of the event. Along the way, souvenirs will be given out to spectators. The Parade together with other festive activities will brighten up the city with joyful vibes during Chinese New Year.

Even if you missed the parade and free souvenirs like me, you can still currently experience some of its joyful vibes at Tap Seac Square where the parade floats are illuminated from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Below are six of the more rooster-ous floats. They include some of the more artistically intriguing examples of roosters, phoenixes or other birds I have seen during the holiday. I don't know if the floats have names, but I call the one in the last photo Mecharooster.