Belated Post II: Pictures I wish I had taken (Dalian)

1. Every night after 9 PM (and no before, due to some law aimed at city beautification), the streets corner right outside the west gate of DUT comes alive with a row of food stands and street vendors selling cheap goods ranging from squid on a stick to contraband DVD's. Chunks of mostly students gather around the stands waiting for their chunks of edibles to be cooked in front of them. Smoke fills the air from various barbecue stands. Occasionally, a loud pop from the popcorn/poprice guy makes everyone jump a little.

The first picture that I missed was this night scene. I've walked past it many times in 5 weeks, but I never remembered to snap a picture.

My favorite late night street snacks are sticks of not exactly sanitary, probably not healthy, but definitely delicious mutton roasted by a family of Uguyrs, who occasionally don't heed the 9 PM rule. I get a few sticks a few nights a week. One day, I walked by the stand and saw one of the Uguyrs climb to a small platform and kneel with his back to the gate and his face in the setting sun. A few hours later, I walked by the same place, and again he was in the same position, with a serene look on his face looking out where the sun had already retreated. It was then that I realized he was praying.

There was something moving about the guy's devotion. I wanted to capture it on film, but I didn't have my camera either time. Besides, I don't think I have the skill to capture sentiment on camera.

2. The boy at the 24 hour porridge shop has a rather lovely face, charming with a small sparkle of mischief and a slight shade of buhaoyisi. I had gone there every couple of days at least for lunch or dinner, and he had always been there, no matter the hour.

From his looks, he can't be more than 16, but the tiger pendant on his neck suggests that he's probably 21. I wonder what he's doing with his life, why he's working at such a place and not at the respectable university next door. I never talked to him except to order dishes or request napkins.

I don't have a crush on him. I just like his face. I wanted badly to take a picture, but it's impossible to be inconspicuous as I aim the camera.

3. Every university of reasonable quality in China has something in common- a large statue of Mao in a conspicuous square. At Fudan in Shanghai, Mao overlooks a large courtyard. At Zhejian University, Mao looks rather orange and raises his right hand in perpetual salute (or to hail a cab, as the students say). At Dalian, Mao has his hands behind his back and wears a coat that billows to usually non-existent wind.

For a few days around graduation, enormous balloons colored like beach balls bobbed around Mao's head, trailing long signs with (what I guessed to be) phrases of felicitation.It looked rather surreal, for the balloons were just the right proportion for Mao. I kept forgetting to bring my camera every time I walked by it...

At least at the time of this entry's conception. I had since remembered my camera and taken a picture. Here it is:


4. During our last weeks at Dalian, we worked mostly at night due to communication with MIT, and thus I had most of my days free. I liked to hop on a bus into town at the east gate whenever I itched for a change of environment. About a week before we left, I planned to meet Geng at Victory Square, the gigantic underground mall, for an afternoon of retail therapy. Not wanting to carry extra weight in my bag, I forwent the camera.

Unusual things seem to pop up at a much higher frequency whenever I am sans camera. On the bus, I saw a guy writing long rows of poetry with chalk. Never mind that the bus was moving when I saw him. I would have jumped out at the next stop just to get the picture.

Right next to the bus stop at Victory Square were two young boys. One was balanced upside down by his mouth on some strange, spinning contraption. The other did flips. Poor kids. I wanted a picture, but I gave them 5 yuan instead (enough to buy both of them a meal).

After shopping, Geng and I walked around the surrounding area a bit. In a crowd of street vendors, we saw a lady peddling what looked to be pirated Hollywood movies. When we walked closer to see what she had, we realized that she actually sold pornography, child pornography. Disgusted, we quickly walked away from her smiling, enthusiastic offers, in the direction of a small boy also with a pile of DVD's in front of him. Turned out the he too was selling child porn. A child selling child porn...

5. You. Yes, you. You know who you are. Actually, I do have a couple of pictures of you, but in both, half of your face (the same half, unfortunately) is obscured. If you happen to be reading this (I really don't know why you would be. I don't think I ever told you about it), do kindly email me a (flattering) photograph of yourself so that I can toss it into a shoe box, stop thinking about it, and forget you properly.