Protesting Against Extradition in Hong Kong

There was a big march in Hong Kong today:

Over a million people have joined a mass protest against the Hong Kong government’s controversial extradition bill, according to organisers. . . .

The protesters marched towards the legislature over an issue that has underscored divisions in society over trust in the legislature and the Chinese judicial system.

Hong Kong’s government first proposed legal amendments in February to allow the city to handle case-by-case extradition requests from jurisdictions with no prior agreements, most notably China and Taiwan.

To add to the many already out there, with permission I will pass on some photos of the protest shared by friends in Hong Kong. A few were shared publicly, and those are attributed. Most were shared privately, so out of care and such they aren't attributed.

Source: Chung-wah Chow

Source: Chung-wah Chow

Source: Chung-wah Chow

A Claim About Truth at a Uniqlo Store in Yulin

The Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo recently made the news due to the some shoppers', shall we say, intense desire to buy items from a newly released clothing line. I don't know whether the only Uniqlo store, which opened less than two weeks ago, in Yulin faced similarly enthusiastic customers. A shirt from another collection did catch my attention on the 30th anniversary of the crackdown at Tiananmen though. I had noticed the shirt similarly displayed before, but the words and apparent image of a brick wall on it had a stronger effect that day.

The shirt also reminded me of last year's post here "A Tiananmen Story Told Through Shirts & Dresses in Guangzhou, China". Had I done something similar this year this Uniqlo shirt probably would've been part of it.

Another Anniversary of a Crackdown in China: Today in Yulin and 30 Years Ago in Chengdu

In Yulin, Guangxi, nothing seemed unusual at Youth Square (青年广场) this evening on the 30th anniversary of the crackdown at Tiananmen Square in Beijing.

The same held true for Dongmen Plaza (东门广场) in Yulin.

And again, nearby on the other side of the Dongmen Commercial Plaza (东门商业广场) nothing seemed out of place, including the children running about and chengguan (Urban Administrative and Law Enforcement Bureau officers) keeping street vendors away.

While considering the date's significance I have previously shared the seemingly everyday nature of what I saw in front of my eyes on June 4 in Chinese cities as far apart as Hengyang, Hunan, and Xining, Qinghai. But the first time was eight years ago when I was in Chengdu, Sichuan. So of all the excellent recent pieces on this topic, for now I will just share a link via a tweet to U.S. Representative Andy Levin's account and photos of the crackdown in Chengdu, where he was a student at the time. It's yet another reminder that what happened 30 years ago in China wasn't at all limited to just Beijing.

Thirty years is such a long time, and yet it was as if I was in Chengdu yesterday, wetting my bandanna to put over my face to battle the teargas, stepping through the glass and rock strewn streets to be with the people as they battled the authorities. https://t.co/9aPNKhJDw7

— Rep. Andy Levin (@RepAndyLevin) June 3, 2019

Uncle Sam Wants You in Yulin, China

Uncle Sam wants you . . .

. . . to work at a Color Lady (出彩丽人) beauty care store in Yulin, Guangxi.

This is far from the first time in China I have seen Uncle Sam in job advertisements. But it is the latest I unexpectedly found myself face to face with this popular symbol of the United States and pondered its usage here.

Gone from Tiananmen But Remembered

Screen capture of "Tiananmen Square Massacre: Black Night In June"

I'll never forget that young couple. When the shot moved in, the way she looked at me.

A journalist decides between staying to record more or preserving what they have already captured. He left. Presumably the young couple stayed. He can still share the story so it is remembered. They made the story.

Arthur Kent's video: "Tiananmen Square Massacre: Black Night In June"

Jennifer Creery's article in the Hong Kong Free Press: "Video: 30 years on, Canadian journalist shares newly restored footage of China’s Tiananmen Massacre horror"

Watched By a Gigantic Panda in Yulin

I am working on a post about the opening of a new shopping mall in Yulin, Guangxi, which speaks to a variety of issues in China. While I don't share a lot of video, in this case I feel it is quite useful for communicating some what occurred. However, uploading the video across the Great Firewall will require more effort and time.

So for now, I will just say my recent time at this new mall has helped me gain appreciation for the fact that even after all of these years in China I'm still not sure what to think when a gigantic panda intently stares . . .

stares . . .

. . . stares, I say, at me.

Good times. After this, the world only become more unusual when the panda danced on the stage. The moves were at times, shall we say, intense for a creature of such a size. Or really any size. At least the panda was distracted from me. I hope.

More later.

A Spider Dreaming Big in Yulin

Answers to a Special Return in China

Nicki in Haikou was the first person to correctly guess part of the significance of a location I recently came across on the first night of my return to a city in China. It is where I took the photo currently used in the header image at the top of this blog. After posting a third photo of the location, Nicki then became the first person to respond with the correct city without me providing extra hints not in the posts here.

Rather curious, I asked her how she did it. She replied, "Third photo.... I can read". I had checked that no signs in the photos displayed the city's name before sharing them, so I wondered what I had overlooked. It didn't take me long to now find it.

Here is a closeup photo of one of the non-cone-shaped traffic cones plainly in view in the third photo:

I have seen traffic cones with advertising for at least two different hospitals in numerous parts of the city. In this case, the advertising is for the Yulin Ruidong Hospital (玉林瑞东医院). And yes, the Yulin Ruidong Hospital is unsurprisingly in . . . . Yulin — a city in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Although the text on the cones is rather fuzzy if you significantly enlarge the third photo at the highest resolution I shared, it is good enough.

So I award the prize for this edition of "Name the City" to Nicki. I even have a special prize in mind, though admittedly it's something I was planning to do anyway. I won't reveal what it is, but when it happens readers here should be able to recognize it. Nicki certainly will.

Sam Crane, who teaches contemporary Chinese politics and ancient Chinese philosophy at Williams College, deserves an honorable mention for my favorite incorrect guess that I received — Guangzhou. There are several aspects of the third scene, including the architecture, which may have lead me to consider Guangzhou too had I never been to this location in Yulin. After I provided some hints that didn't involve traffic cones he correctly figured out the city as well.

This was a tough one, folks. I wouldn't have expected anybody to correctly identify the city without digging deep into my blogging history, recalling some of my earliest posts over 8 years ago, having much familiarity with Yulin, or receiving additional hints. There is still more I have to share about why the location is significant to me and my blogging. That shall come later, as will more about Yulin.

Finally, a piece of advice: never ignore traffic cones.

One Last Photo for a Special Return in China

Last week I posted a photo of a location significant to this blog and later I posted a photo of the same place taken from a different vantage point. Before revealing all, I will share a photo of the same location also taken on that first night of my return but from a vantage point that offers a far more iconic view.

Do you see it now?



Update: Answers are here.

Another Photo for a Special Return in China

The previous post apparently didn't provide enough hints about the significant place (to me and this blog) where I recently arrived. So here is another photo taken from a different, but still not iconic, perspective on my first night back in the city:

The photo includes at least one significant additional clue. The wonton street stall isn't intended to be it, but perhaps the wontons help too.



Update: An additional clue is here. Answers are here.

A Special Return in China

About two weeks ago I arrived in a city I had explored a number of years ago. I was eager to return not only to see what had and hadn't changed and learn more about life there, but also because the city holds a special connection to this blog and my blogging experience. Relevant to the connection, there was one place in particular I especially wanted to seek out. Off the top of my head, I only had a vague sense of its location relative to the hotel where I had stayed long ago. I worried that if I couldn't find it, I might not even be able to be sure whether that was do due to an incomplete search or the location being significantly transformed. Cities can change quickly in China, and it had been a while.

After checking into my hotel, one in a different part of the city than the one I had stayed at during my previous visit, I set out that evening to walk around. I didn't look at a map, just let my wandering instincts take over, and wasn't intent on finding the special location that night. Nevertheless, after almost 40 minutes I was surprised and excited when I saw it in the distance. When I later looked at a map I discovered that without realizing it I had taken a route that couldn't have been much more direct.

So here is a photo taken that night which captures a vantage point that makes the location's significance far less apparent than some others would:

Now it is time for a return of the old game "Which city in China is this?" Normally, I wouldn't think people would have much of a chance with this photo. But in this particular case, reader's have real reason for hope. You don't even need to be a China expert to figure it out. And although digging deep into this blog (and another particular site) could significantly help in identifying the city, you needn't go far at all to see why I was so happy to find this location again.



Update: Two more clues are here and here. Answers are here.

A Stairway to Missing Rooms in China

I try not to be lazy. But yesterday I just didn't feel like taking the stairs.

This isn't the only time recently when I looked at some stairs and thought "nope". More about both of those locations, which are in two different cities, later.

Chengguan on the Street in Wuzhou

I have some Wuzhou chengguan (Urban Administrative and Law Enforcement Bureau officers) stories to tell another day. For now, here's a photo of a pair chengguan during a less dramatic moment:

Near Pantang Park on what is identified (similar to another branch of the road) as Dieshan 2nd Road (蝶山二路)

An Icy Post to Post for a Post

Folks, my apologies for posting very infrequently lately. I can't blame it on a lack of things to post. The situation is quite the opposite.

Much more is on the way though. Really. Before that, I'm not sure what to say. But I did see one intriguing suggestion this evening for something to do.

I'm already convinced, as long as it's good ice.

More later . . .

We Made It in Wuzhou

Budweiser ad in a KTV lobby in Wuzhou

An Interspecies Confrontation in Wuzhou

I witnessed the interaction in the above photo while walking in Wuzhou this afternoon. Most of the time, the cat, which wore a collar, stood its ground in a defensive posture while the dog yapped at it. Although the cat didn't seem to be in serious danger, I later tried blocking the dog a few times to give the cat a chance to more safely flee. The cat didn't take advantage of the opportunity, so I left life as it was on the otherwise peaceful street.

The Core Socialist Values of a Fallen Planter in Wuzhou

Within sight of a new core socialist values sign in Wuzhou a row of planters serve to block vehicles from entering a pedestrian street. Today there was a small tragedy.

After I took the above photo, a woman who had been sitting nearby rushed over and told me I couldn't take photos like this one. She then explained that somebody would be arriving soon to fix things. I guessed she didn't want me sharing what she considered to be a bad look. But I simply wished to capture a moment of everyday life which also spoke to issues regarding design.

Since I was photographing in a public area an inanimate object presumably of little concern to the Ministry of State Security or the Ministry of Public Security and the woman wasn't wearing a uniform, I felt I didn't need to be worried about being negatively affected by at least one of China's core socialist values — rule of law. So I exercised another core socialist value — freedom — and took one more photo for context.

Yes, the woman was still watching me, perhaps thinking I was not following one of the core socialist values — civility.

About two hours later, I returned to the same location. The woman was gone. And the problem had been fixed.

So I will happily share a photo which speaks to yet another core socialist value.

Harmony

Posting the Values Again in Wuzhou

China's 12 core socialist values are displayed at many (many, many) locations in the country. Now there is at least one more new sign in Wuzhou to remind people of them.

Monday alongside Da'nan Road

Wednesday

Spiritual Clothing in Wuzhou

My Faith, God, Because of You . . .

Some fashion recently seen at the Wangcheng Plaza (旺城广场) shopping mall in Wuzhou that together forms a message:

Riverside Fun With Toy Construction Vehicles in Wuzhou

This afternoon in Wuzhou a woman brought a little boy to the left bank of the Xi River. The boy was at first momentarily interested in some of the activities ongoing in the river, but soon his attention shifted to the apparent reason he had been brought there.

And he played with his toy construction vehicles in the sand and dirt while the woman used her mobile phone.

Sure seemed like an excellent choice of location.