Some of the Halloween Spirit in Shenyang

Pizza Hut's Black Halloween Pizza wasn't the only sign of Halloween in Shenyang, China. For example, there was a house of mirrors at the Forum 66 shopping mall.

The Palace 66 shopping mall had a little more.

The bare shoulder is part of a non-Halloween Häagen-Dazs advertisement

The Halloween festivities included a "haunted playground".

There was also a somewhat macabre merry-go-round.

The Xinglong Happy Family shopping mall at the Zhong Jie Pedestrian Street had one of the larger outdoor displays.

The vast majority of places displayed no Halloween spirit, but I saw other examples, mostly at shopping centers, restaurants, and a hair salon or two. This year, sadly, there will be no Halloween night report. I had left Shenyang by then and my next location was unusually cold that night. For some Chinese Halloween night scenes,  though, there is last year's post from Shaoguan far to south.

Pizza Hut Celebrates Halloween with a Spidery Black Pizza in China

One of my interests involves seeing how Western companies localize their products and services in China. Sometimes that leads to culinary explorations during holidays, such as trying McDonald's Year of Fortune Burger for the Lunar New Year when I was in Chongqing. Halloween is another holiday which offers possibilities.

Last year in Shaoguan, Guangdong, I noted that a Halloween promotion at Pizza Hut featuring M&M's didn't include an M&M's pizza. So there was no special pizza for me that day. But things change . . . This year, Pizza Hut once again had a Halloween promotion, which I saw while in Shenyang, Liaoning. Instead of M&M's, Vamplets were the main characters accompanying the "Black Halloween" spirit.

Like last year, there were fingers on the special Halloween menu, although the ingredients weren't the same. More importantly to me, the menu had a special pizza which screamed to be tried.

The menu says the Black Halloween Pizza (暗黑魔法烤肉比萨) is made with cuttlefish powder. Like their close relatives, squid, cuttlefish can shoot ink. Given the black coloring of the pizza, I assume cuttlefish ink is at least one ingredient in the powder. Whatever the case, of course I ordered the pizza.

Yes, there is a spider on the pizza. This is not the first time I have encountered a spider on a Pizza Hut pizza. Decades ago at a Pizza Hut in Pennsylvania, US, my brother discovered a spider baked into our pizza's cheese. It wasn't Halloween and spiders weren't listed as an ingredient for the pizza, so the folks at Pizza Hut made appropriate amends. Unlike that spider, the spider on the Black Halloween Pizza is made out of the black dough. Too bad, since it has been a while since I have eaten large spiders.

The black pizza dough spider deserves a closeup look.

The pizza includes New Orleans Roasted Chicken, which seems to be a common thing in China, even if not in New Orleans, and pumpkin as well. The spider web is made out of a mayonnaise so sweet that . . . well, I did my best to scrape it off. There is no tomato pizza sauce, which may be why the waitress brought out some ketchup. I was more happy to see the unrequested appearance of Tabasco sauce. Well done, waitress. It really helped.

Overall, I liked the Black Halloween Pizza more than the pizza with New Orleans style toppings I had along with Pizza Hut's durian pizza in Jieyang, Guangdong. The pumpkin was a welcomed change of pace, but I don't think I will be craving the Black Halloween Pizza anytime in the future, unlike Mr. Panda's black Inkfish Pizza, which I tried in Shanghai.

Maybe next year Pizza Hut will go with real spiders as a topping for a Halloween pizza. I would definitely give it a try.

Chinese Flags, Dog Meat, and a Patriotic Crab in Mudanjiang

Today is the last day for the Golden Week celebrating the founding of the People's Republic of China. Since Chinese flags have been a persistent theme here during the past week or so (for example here, here, and here), it seems fitting to share some more Chinese flags I saw today, these prominently on display at a restaurant in Mudanjiang.

For those who can read Chinese, one other thing is immediately obvious about the above restaurant on West Ping'an Street: their special dish. The Chinese characters "狗肉" in its name mean "dog meat". Restaurants featuring dog meat are easy to find in Mundanjiang. In fact, within sight of the restaurant is another which features "dog meat" in its name.

And further west along West Ping'an Street is another restaurant with "dog meat" in its name . . .

And another . . .

And another . . .

And another . . .

And another . . .

Notably, none of these other dog meat restaurants had Chinese flags outside. Also of note, some of their names reference rivers in or bordering the Korean Peninsula. Although Mudanjiang is closer to Russia, North Korea isn't very far away.

I didn't look at every sign along the street, so there could be more along this section of road about one kilometer long. My sense was that this area has a higher density of restaurants featuring dog meat than other parts of Mudanjiang, but, again, this is not something I have been rigorously paying attention to.

I really hadn't planned posting about dog meat today, so I will save more on the topic for another day. I'll now return to Chinese flags to end this post. Of course I saw more of them today. One was on display at restaurant in the Mudanjiang Wanda Plaza.

This restaurant features another kind of meat — crabs, presumably of the patriotic variety. The humanoid crab on the right appears to be holding an iPhone though.

And I believe that is the end to this year's series of National Day posts.

China's National Day: October 1, 2016, in Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang

October 1 was the celebration for the founding of the People's Republic of China and the beginning of a Golden Week holiday during which nearly 600 million people are expected to travel in China. I have spent the holiday in Mudanjiang — a city in China's most northeastern province. During the afternoon of October 1, I walked around a central commercial area including a pedestrian street and Culture Square, where I had already seen Chinese flags displayed for the holiday.

Some people carried a Chinese flag.

Some people sold Chinese flags.

Some streets were filled with vehicles.

Some streets were filled with pedestrians.

Some people carried a child.

Some people carried a dog.

Some people carried a bear's head.

Some people sang and played.

Some people sang and danced.

Some people checked their phone.

Some people took a drive.

And, of course, some stores had a sale.

In many ways what I saw was indistinguishable from other days I have spent Mudanjiang. For this reason, the day unexpectedly and somewhat ironically reminded me of another day in another Chinese city. The crowds did feel larger, though nothing like what is seen in more popular destinations. I don't expect that much will be different here in another week or two, except that there won't be so many flags.

Red Flags Reappear in Mudanjiang

I previously wondered why many of the Chinese and plain red flags surrounding the main entrance to the Guomao Shopping Center in Mudanjiang, which seemingly had been brought out for the upcoming National Day of the People's Republic of China, later disappeared.

Today was National Day and at the Culture Square this afternoon I saw the flags were back. But when I returned about half an hour before the shopping center closed, they were all gone except, like before, the ones atop the main sign. Here is the view from behind the sign early this evening after the others had been removed:

No flags were out over a week ago. My theory now is that most of the flags are only brought out for the holiday during the shopping center's opening hours. Perhaps the ones on the sign remain because they are not as easily reached by those who shouldn't be reaching for them. 

I hope this possible answer to such a great mystery helps some people sleep better. Later I will share more photos of this National Day in Mudanjiang. There will be a few more flags . . .



UPDATE: Discussion about whether the description "behind the sign" applies to the above photo and more evidence for the flag removal theory here.

Go With Me: Red (White, and Blue) Flags in Mudanjiang

Tomorrow is the National Day of the People's Republic of China. And like in much of China, Chinese flags are plentiful in Mudanjiang, including at Culture Square. One flag on an electric scooter parked outside of People's Park especially caught my attention today.

I have seen small Chinese flags flying on scooters. I have seen American flag designs on scooters elsewhere in China. But I don't recall having ever seen them together before.

I don't know if the flag was added for tomorrow's holiday or is a regular feature. Given the clear American theme, I wondered if the owner of the scooter added the Chinese flag to avoid questions about their patriotism.

Below are two more photos showing the fuller design on the scooter. For me, the mix of flags is a reminder that national symbols can be displayed for different reasons.

Red Flags Briefly Appear in Mudanjiang

Yesterday at the central Culture Square (文化广场) in Mudanjiang, I was reminded that the National Day of the People's Republic of China is approaching.

Curiously, almost all of the Chinese and plain red flags surrounding the main entrance to the underground Guomao Shopping Center (国贸商城) were gone today. Only a few on top of its main sign (not seen in the above photo) remained.

National Day will begin October 1 regardless though. And some cities not very far away will soon see hotel rates quadrupling in the holiday spirit.



UPDATE: An explanation for the disappearing (and later reappearing) flags here.

More Mid-Autumn Festival Lanterns in Macau

Tomorrow is the Mid-Autumn Festival. So here are photos of holiday lanterns, sans dinosaurs or Hello Kitty, from two familiar places for this blog in Macau.

Portas do Cerco

Largo do Senado

And that is it for Mid-Autumn Festival photos from Macau this year (I think). I definitely can't take any more, since I am now in another place far away.

Mid-Autumn Festival Lanterns Surround a Dinosaur in Macau

Hello Kitty mooncakes aren't the only example of the Mid-Autumn Festival mixing with other themes in Macau.

These holiday lanterns and dinosaur currently stand in front of the Macau Science Center, which has a temporary "Living Dinosaurs" exhibition. Similar lanterns are on display elsewhere in Macau, but I haven't seen others with a dinosaur. Maybe I will get to see a dinosaur lantern somewhere else soon.

Mooncake Delivery in Macau

Today I saw more signs in Macau of the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, including this truck delivering Maxim's mooncakes.

Unlike the mooncakes for dogs and cats I saw advertised elsewhere in Macau, these appeared to be for humans.

Later in the day, I saw a Koi Kei bakery truck with a less traditional design than I have seen before. The truck's design featured mooncakes. Again, they are presumably for humans, but they do have a popular cat theme.

Hello Kitty mooncakes represent a fusion of sorts between Chinese and Japanese cultures. I will soon share another mooncake fusion cooked in a place far away from Macau.

Mooncakes Go to the Dogs

In past years I have shared Mid-Autumn Festival scenes in Macau from locations such as Taipa Village, Portas do Cerco, and Largo do Senado. Mid-Autumn Festival isn't until September 15 this year, but signs of preparation for the holiday are already visible, such as in Largo do Senado.

In addition to lanterns, mooncakes are a popular way to celebrate the holiday. I saw a sign in Macau indicating that they won't be restricted to only humans.

Although they perhaps aren't a familiar aspect of the holiday to many in China, pet mooncakes aren't a new thing and other brands are out there. Mooncake flavors listed on this sign include carrot salmon, Aussie beef flavor, tuna cheese, and chicken, pumpkin & sweet potato. All are listed as acceptable for dogs. Only the the tuna cheese is listed as cat friendly.

I don't know what will happen if you try to give a carrot salmon mooncake to a cat. I also don't know if a human would like them. People may want to take extra care when selecting which box of mooncakes to regift.

Fire, Blood, and Prayer at Taipei's Chang Qing Temple

Despite having "over 210 years of history", the Chang Qing Temple (長慶廟) isn't one of Taipei's most famous temples, but like many small temples in Taiwan it has plenty of spirit nonetheless. As I walked nearby last night some loud sounds compelled me to take a closer look. I believe I caught the end of a special ceremony where statues of gods are taken out of the temple and later returned, often with a great amount of fanfare. Although I didn't witness any massive parades like I recently saw for similar events in Jieyang, last night's ceremony stood out for the bloody wounds a tattooed man inflicted upon himself and the intense music.

Some photos below capture the man who was at the center of the ceremony's conclusion. He received a warm round of applause for his dedicated efforts.