The Mudanjiang Wanda Plaza: A Few Observations of Stores, Food, and Fun

The Mudanjiang Wanda Plaza Shopping Mall

Several years ago I posted about the Kaifu Wanda Plaza in Changsha, Hunan. Since then I have seen a number of Wanda Plazas in other cites across China. Most recently, I visited the Mudanjiang Wanda Plaza in Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang. The 144th Wanda Plaza in China opened a few months ago and includes a shopping mall, apartments, and office space. I won't be doing a comprehensive overview, but I will share some of my impressions during a brief visit to the shopping mall.

When I looked at the mall map, the most curious thing was an "Apple" store. I doubted Mudanjiang had an Apple Store and was not the least bit surprised when I discovered it referred to an Apple authorized reseller.

Well, the store claims it is an authorized reseller. At the moment I don't see any mention of it in Apple's online search tool for authorized resellers in China.

Elsewhere in the mall, I saw an Adidas Kids store.

The online Adidas reseller tool isn't working for me, so I can't comment more on that topic. I didn't see an Adidas-imitating Adisco shoes store in the mall though.

I also did not see any entertainment like the Toyota promotion I saw at the Kaifu Wanda Plaza. But I did see a promotion which featured some children in a fun competition.

I have seen Zoo Coffee, a Korean animal-themed coffeehouse chain, at other Wanda Plazas. None here, but Zebra coffee is available.

There are many options for food, including three familiar Western chains: Dairy Queen, Pizza Hut, and Burger King.

Pizza Hut and Burger King have prime locations at one of the main entrances. The Burger King is notable in part because Mudanjiang does not have a single McDonald's. This may be the first time I was in a Chinese city with a Burger King but not a McDonald's.

The third floor of the mall is full of other restaurants. Several offer buffets, including one with something of an Alps theme.

There is also, as usual for a mall, a Sichuan option.

Several restaurants, such as Pig Boeuf, sport a trendy style which has seemingly grown popular in parts of China.

Pig Boeuf had a nice family standing out front.

Apparently these humanoid pigs are meant to encourage people to eat pork. If they have the opposite effect, a nearby vegetarian restaurant might be a good option.

I wouldn't call Mudanjiang a vegetarian-friendly place, so seeing this restaurant at the Wanda Plaza was a bit of a surprise. When I looked inside I saw that unlike other restaurants it had zero customers. Instead, employees including two chefs were sitting at a table looking extremely bored. Too bad.

Finally, to close out this odd set of observations from the Mudanjiang Wanda Plaza on a happier note, I will share my favorite: a man and presumably his daughter taking a ride through the mall on an electric dinosaur kiddie car.

Now that is a great way to mall.

Mickey Mouse Spirit at a Wholesale Clothing Market in Beijing

Over half a year ago "a Chinese government agency singled out the Walt Disney Company as the focus of a new nationwide 'special action' aimed at stamping out imitation goods that infringe on Disney’s trademarks."

About a month ago at the large Shiji Tianle wholesale clothing market in Beijing, I noticed a lot of clothing with Western brands, including Disney. I don't know the story for all of the clothing sold at Tianle. But there were plenty of examples which made it easy to question how much of it was genuine, including a Donald Duck shirt with a creative spelling.

Does "LOVE DONPLD!" have Disney's approval?

Below are some examples of Mickey Mouse shirts I saw for sale at the market. The last photo includes a shirt that would have been a more clearcut example to use in an earlier post about Disney and American influence. Based on what I have seen elsewhere, they are representative of the popularity of Disney-themed clothing in China. And like a "Mockey" mouse shirt I saw in Xiamen, they may represent the challenges Disney still faces with regard to imitation products in China.

Contemporary Art on Display Inside the Parkview Green in Beijing

Some readers may still be wondering about the intended meaning of the sculpture in the previous post, and some may be wondering about its location. I have ideas but no definitive answers for the the first question, but at least one reader correctly guessed the photo was taken at the Parkview Green shopping mall in Beijing. Even if you have no interest in or money for luxury shopping, the mall is worth a visit for its remarkable architecture and numerous pieces of contemporary art. The bathrooms have fancy toilet seats too.

Photos of nine of the works on display inside the mall during a recent visit appear below with some bits of symmetry in their ordering. I have only listed the artists' names because sometimes the works' names weren't clearly displayed, at least anywhere I looked. In one frustrating case, I have not even been able to identify the artist — any help welcome [update: mystery solved]. Although none of them were as surprising to me to find in a Beijing shopping mall as the piece in the previous post, I found them all provocative in their own ways.

Chen Wenling

Roberto Barni

Unknown Salvador Dali

Shen Jingdong

Huang Mingzhe

Huang Yulong

Ichwan Noor

Lee Seung-koo

Chen Wenling

Digging for Fun Near Mao in Xiangtan

The previous post included a photo of a set of statues including Mao Zedong at the Dongfanghong Plaza in Xiangtan, Hunan. For a contrast, here is a scene from last year outside the large BBG shopping mall (步步高生活广场) underneath the plaza:

Neither a shopping mall underneath a large statue of Mao nor an abundance of empty, unused space inside the mall seemed out of place in China. Another day, I will share more about this tenant-challenged mall and the large shopping center under construction across the street.

Four Views of the Chongqing People's Liberation Monument in Jiefangbei

In an earlier post about International Women's Day in China, I mentioned I recognized the location of a photo shared by Xinhua News. One clue in the photo was a portion of the People's Liberation Monument, hard to miss at Jiefangbei Pedestrian Street's central square in Chongqing despite the many much higher structures nearby.

Below are four photos I took of the square on an overcast and smoggy day in January last year. The first photo was taken approximately facing southwest, similar to the Xinhua News photo but farther away from the monument. The following three in order approximately face southeast, northeast, and northwest. A dense commercial district with a wide range of eating and shopping options, including a number of luxury brands, surrounds the square. In the background of the last photo, the Apple Store which opened last year can be seen when the entrance was covered with a tarp before some special art was revealed. Even if food or shopping isn't on your mind, the area is great for people watching as it is frequented by many locals and Chinese tourists who visit Chongqing.

A Life With Less Lint Embraced at Shenzhen's Dongmen

My recent Shenzhen-themed posts have likely caused some longtime readers to ask an important question: Are people still selling cucumber slicers in the Dongmen shopping area as they were several years ago?

Based on recent observations, they are not. Now something else is sold by many hawkers there in a similar fashion: lint removers.

One of the hawkers was asking 10 yuan (about U.S. $1.50) for a non-electric lint remover and 30 yuan for an electric lint remover (shaver). The latter price could quickly drop to 20 yuan. The lint removers appeared to be in demand, and several were sold during the brief time I watched several of the hawkers. As seen in the second and third photos, most of the hawkers have easily-transportable displays similar to those used for the cucumber slicers — still important for an easy escape from roaming security guards.

And yet again, a loose end is tied up. Though, as usual, more questions arise.

Apple Opens a Special New Store in Xiamen, China

Today Apple opened its first store in Xiamen, China, at the SM Lifestyle Center shopping mall. Unlike the notable Apple Store which opened almost a year ago at Jiefangbei in Chongqing, no Apple logo could be seen from afar.

As explained by several Apple Store employees, that is all by design and part of the look for Apple's newest "D phase" of stores which also appears at new locations in Nanning far to the west and Shenyang far to the north.

Apple hasn't totally eliminated the outside logo, though. One is well hidden on a wall at the Xiamen store.

My eyes strain to see the faintest sign of the logo in the above photo, and I had the same experience in person. If a store employee hadn't mentioned a hidden logo, I wouldn't have noticed it. Even after the hint, finding it took significant effort. Close up, the logo is somewhat easier to see but still doesn't jump out.

Employees explained Apple wants people to focus more on the products than the logo and believes its stores' distinctive design will be enough for people to identify them.

It may also be hoped it communicates a message similar to "we're so cool we don't even need to show our logo". Another possible impact relates to the "fake" Apple Stores still common in China. Will they be willing to imitate a look which includes no sign?

Another "Apple Store" I saw by chance today in Xiamen

Although it is not illegal in China for these stores to resell genuine Apple merchandise and most are easily distinguished from a genuine Apple Store, the bigger question is whether these stores are selling genuine, fake, or the semi-genuine Apple products I have seen being made at Huaqiangbei and elsewhere in China. Apple has far more control over what is sold in its own stores, where it can sell its genuine products in an environment which best complements its brand image, no small part of Apple's success.

The lack of a visible Apple logo didn't appear to hurt today. Over 30 minutes after opening there was still a long, slow line of people. The store is much easier to find than the logo.

A big draw for some people were the limited free shirts commemorating the opening.

One group of Apple fans decided it was worth taking a break from their jobs in order to be among the first to visit the store and hopefully score some shirts.

At the entrance, people were greeted with cheers and high-fives from Apple Store employees.

Unlike the Jiefangbei store, no special art marked its opening. But the Xiamen store can make its own claims to fame, at least for now. According to an employee, it boasts the longest LED light panels of any Apple Store in China.

And it also has the largest Ultra HD Screen.

The live greenery inside is another aspect Apple's new look for its stores.

During the opening hours the store was packed with customers and Apple Store employees.

As seems to be common for Apple's new stores in China, a number of the employees were from the the U.S. and established stores elsewhere in China. During my visit I met employees who had transferred from California, Hawaii, Texas, and Shanghai. At least some of them expect to be at the Xiamen store for two years. This not only helps Apple ensure its China stores offer an experience similar to its U.S. stores but could also have benefits when Apple's employees bring what they learn in China back to the U.S. or to elsewhere in the world.

After the opening hour or two, the crowd thinned to a point where the outside line had disappeared and the inside was still busy but moving around was more manageable. As Best Buy has learned, crowds can be especially deceiving in China. In the end, something else matters much more.

So Apple is surely keeping a closer eye on sales, whether by cash or card.

Below are more scenes from the store today including employees demonstrating, assisting, discussing, and photographing; customers watching, trying, buying, and waiting for others; and security keeping an eye on things. The store is Apple's 30th in China, and more are on the way. The opening is symbolic not only for Apple but Xiamen as well. Like many other cities in China, Xiamen has seen much recent development. An under-construction subway system will soon have a station next to the large shopping mall, something surely not lost on Apple as it seeks to grow as well.