Scenes Around the Camões Garden in Macau

Over three years ago in Macau I met someone who had made a day trip from Zhongshan to buy milk formula from New Zealand. Yesterday for the first time, I made the same trip, though not for milk formula. Near where I am staying in Zhongshan I boarded a direct bus to the border between Gongbei, Zhuhai, and Macau. After the one hour, 27 RMB (about U.S. $4.25) bus ride, I crossed the border in my shortest time ever, easily less than 15 minutes to pass though both mainland China and Macau immigration. Returning to Zhongshan at night was also simple, though the bus cost 28 RMB instead. The trip would likely have taken much longer had I gone during the recent holiday.

The Camões Garden is part of a set of famous sites in Macau which extend southward. The many winding streets just to the West, North, and East see far fewer tourists, yet like Macau's nearby Three Lamps District, which is also in Freguesia de Santo António (St. Anthony's Parish), they have their own charm. I spent a rather pleasant hour an half walking around the area beginning around 5pm. For yet another side of Macau, below are some photos from my walk with any streets names written in Portuguese, which along with traditional Chinese is typical in Macau.

Rua Ribeira do Patane and Avenida do Almirante Lacerda

Rua da Palmeira

Tou Tei Temple 

One of the many examples of European architecture in Macau

Other varieties of architecture

Meeting point of the steps Escada do Muro and Escada do Caracol

Rua do Patane

Intersection of Rua de Tomas Vieira and Rua de Coelho do Amaral

 Rua de Coelho do Amaral

Calçada do Botelho

View from the Camões Garden towards Zhuhai across the Qianshan Waterway 

Another view from the Camões Garden

 Stairs leading towards Travessa dos Calafates

Cat eating above a sign for Calçada do Galo

Street vendor selling food at Rua de Cinco de Outubro

Street vendor watching video at Rua da Ribeira do Patane

More National Day in Zhongshan: War Ground, Budweiser, and Fake Sprouts

On this last day of the long holiday, light mention of three more things (other things here, here, and here) which caught my attention in Zhongshan, Guangdong, on National Day:

1. Earlier this year in Zhongshan I saw a Women's Day sale at the military-themed clothing store War Ground. So it wasn't surprising they also had a National Day sale.



I wonder whether they will have a Christmas sale.

2. I didn't see anything specifically mentioning National Day, but along with some other nearby temporary tents a Budweiser promotional tent appeared to be targeting the holiday crowds. Although it declared "Made for Music", any time I passed by I only saw Western movies offered as entertainment.



Budweiser products were available as well. Some of the people who watched the movies even drank them.

3. As seen in one of the photos in an earlier post, a new fad in China has made its way to Zhongshan. Sometimes referred to as fake sprouts, a wide range of plantlike hair pins are now available. On National Day they appeared to be selling well, as they were elsewhere in China, and I saw many younger people with fake plants sticking out of their head.



I gave it pass. I did have visions of wearing an entire bonsai tree on my head though.

People in Zhongshan Without Patriotic Flags on National Day

On China's National Day I saw a number of people displaying Chinese flags, some upside-down, in Zhongshan, Guangdong. Most people didn't have any flags with them though. So below are twenty National Day photos of people not displaying Chinese flags in areas of Zhongshan similar to those in the earlier posts. The photos show a little more of how some people in China spent their time during a big holiday.

Some people I saw ate cotton candy.

Some ate ice cream.

Some ate noodles.

Some collected recyclable trash.

Some wore cosplay costumes.

Some wore shades.

Some paid for shade.

Some paid for hair clips with fake sprouts.

Some didn't want to pay.

Some jumped.

Some drove.

Some floated.

Some rode at the back of a scooter.

Some rode at the front of a scooter.

Some road alone.

Some received a ride.

Some waited to give a ride.

Some walked with family.

Some walked alone.

And finally, although not carrying a flag, some wore clothing with a flag-inspired design, just not the Chinese flag.

Why Did a Person Display an Upside-Down Chinese Flag in Zhongshan?

A sharp-eyed reader asked a question about this photo from a post featuring people in Zhongshan displaying Chinese flags on National Day:

The person is flying the flag upside-down. Does it have any significance there as it does here in the US? Or does it not really matter there?

Similarly, not too far away I saw a street vendor who also had an upside-down Chinese flag. Both cases were atypical. In a more famous case, as captured in a photo shared by the Chinese news agency Xinhua, an upside-down Chinese flag appeared during the opening ceremony for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Xinhua's caption to the photo:

Basketball star and flag-bearer of Chinese Delegation Yao Ming and nine-year-old Lin Hao, a pupil fron quake-hit area in southwest China's Sichuan province, parade into the National Stadium at the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Aug. 8, 2008. According to media reports, when the May 12 tremor struck, Lin Hao risked his life and suffered multiple injuries for rescuing his schoolmates from the collapsed buildings. He was later awarded the title of "Teenage Hero in Earthquake Rescue and Relief." (Xinhua/Liu Dawei)

Some may question how a nine-year-old could qualify as a "Teenage Hero". It may simply reflect an imperfect translation of the Chinese word "qīngshàonián" (青少年) which can refer to a broader age range, such as 10 to 19 years-old, and can also be translated as "adolescent". More people may question how an upside-down Chinese flag could have escaped people's attention during a meticulously planned opening ceremony.

But the biggest question was, similar to the examples I saw in Zhongshan, whether the upside-down flag reflected a simple mistake or a deliberate act, since it can be a sign of distress or political protest. Even if the boy didn't intend to communicate anything negative, perhaps the person who gave him the flag did.

In all of the cases, I don't know the true intentions. However, similar manufacturing/assembly mistakes are not uncommon in China. And the difference between a normal and upside-down Chinese flag doesn't appear to be as visually salient as it is for other flags, such as the flag for the U.S. So people may be less likely to notice or to care. Also, if it were an act of negative expression and widely interpreted as such, all of these people would be taking a huge risk. A recent example of publicly raising an upside-down China flag in protest possibly occurred in Hong Kong, but people can more freely express themselves there.

Personally, without evidence showing otherwise, I would assume the person in the photo from Zhongshan was not boldly expressing himself. I wouldn't say it is impossible he was though.

China should be aware that others make similar mistakes. Not long ago the U.K. government prominently placed two flags at the signing of a trade agreement with China. They correctly oriented China's flag. But they weren't so lucky with their own flag, something which was described as "a terribly British thing to do".

People in Zhongshan with Patriotic Flags on National Day

Yesterday was the National Day of the People's Republic of China (PRC). For many it meant the beginning of a long holiday period. For many others, it meant the beginning of a busy period serving people on holiday. Whether due to travel or lack thereof, some Chinese are now in Zhongshan in Guangdong province, a city named after a famous person born in one of its villages. He happens to be the founding father of the Republic of China (ROC), which preceded the PRC and continues on in lands more commonly known as Taiwan. The whole ROC in Taiwan thing does not thrill most in the PRC, to say the least, but people here have positive views of Sun Zhongshan, also known as Sun Yat-sen.

While walking around Zhongshan (the city) yesterday, I saw some examples of people showing a bit of patriotic spirit with PRC flags, whether by carrying them around, placing them on their vehicle, or selling them. Not surprisingly, I didn't see any ROC flags. Below are photos of the examples I happened to notice and managed to photograph in the order I encountered them. The flags aren't always easily visible and one case involves non-living battery-powered individuals. Nonetheless, the photos capture some of the holiday spirit, people, and sights yesterday in Zhongshan. For those familiar with Zhongshan, all of the photos were taken at locations on either Yuelai Road, Fuhua Road, or the pedestrian street on Sun Wen West Road. For those less familiar with Chinese history, Sun Wen is yet another name for Sun Zhongshan. One can only imagine what he would say were he in Zhongshan city today.