Here are some in no particular order:
The thing that melded "crazy" and "funny" the best on the trip was the Chinese-English translations. Sometimes I couldn't for the life of me figure out what they meant. All the times I couldn't for the life of me stop chuckling. Here is one at Leh Shan temple.
Uh, hate to break it to you China, but to the untrained eye your language actually kinda looks like....
Nope, that little puddle under that little girl is most definitely NOT a remnant of an afternoon rainstorm. Wow.
The bottled water brand of choice for sadistic villains and thirsty tourists.
This is some crazy cool art we saw in a Daoist temple in Chengdu.
Click on this photo for close up. I love its use of word choice and laughed at its lack of visual discrimination when explaining which side it which.
Here is me and a Buddhist monk I met when I was up visiting Namsto Lake. I saw him, smiled and walked over to shake his hand, and motioned if I could take a picture with him. Obviously he agreed.
The best part was when I turned around and there was my new monk friend taking a picture of me with his CELL PHONE! Everyone in China is hip with the technological times...even monks. (Which means I am probably the Facebook profile of some random dude in China) 
The placement of this fan makes me question how popular some of the items in this restaurant really are...
Me and Chairman Mao! 
Chairman Mao (or his large great nephew who bears a striking resemblance to him) in the flesh!
Don't like the sun? The Tibetan solution: just get your friend to hold a package of toilet paper over your head to block out the shining radiation!
Two crazy/fun things about this picture: First, check out the crazy soldiers across the street. In Tibet there are Chinese national guards all over the place. We didn't take pictures of them often (because we didn't want to get jailed, deported, or make our guide nervous) but I just happened to caught them here. They carry around black shotguns and rifles and don't smile much. This is aimed at discouraging uprisings or mass demonstrations in Lhasa.
Second, check out the fun sign above my solider subjects. This store was actually part of a chain of two stores with the same great brand.
"Beauty is generous!" Another classic Chinese-English blend that made us smile. Can you guess what this is on? Perhaps some facial cream, or cosmetics, or.....
Lets think about that mystery over a dinner of...yak curry! (succulent and delicious by the way)
Nope, not what you guessed. Its a toothpick dispenser!! Yep, just press down the chimney on the right and a pointy pick rises from the spout on the left.
Yeah, this little kid kept following us around as we walked around Tibet. No joke, this short-round was on our tail for like 3/4 of a mile. After about 10 street blocks (including 3 corner turns mind you), I was sure he was like the ringleader for a pickpocket gang. This was when we alerted our group to stash their cash and cameras. He finally took off at some random corner, probably home to his family to tell them of the strange white folk he saw coming home from his weekly community service.
If any of you watched Lost for any of seasons 2-4, you know why I look so disgruntled at the apparent revelation that JJ Abrams ripped off the ancient Daoist symbol of "a strange map in the middle of the jungle." 
Yeah, this was cool. So Sam and I were walking down the street one morning and we saw a small alley way with some people going into it. Of course we all know the standard equation: Suspicious alley way + curious 20 somethings = adventure waiting to happen!
We walk through about 10 meters and the alley way opens up into a huge mess hall where all these Tibetans are just chilling and enjoying morning breakfast. Of course everyone stops and looks at us when we come in (just like when Clint Eastwood walks into a bar in the old spaghetti westerns) and so our natural reaction to to wave at the people who are checking us out. Here is a table of women that were kind enough to try and communicate with us and share their tea (they were unsuccessful at both attempts).
This little girl was adorable. She was all "Mama..foreigners! White people mama!" Sam then went up to her and took a picture with her. This is her returning the favor for the foreigners.
Tons of wares in just one vendor stand. There were easily 300 stands like this one in this market.
Buddhist pilgrims in Tibet. This woman either really hates leaving her pets alone at home while she travels, or owns very religious livestock.
Closer look at the pet on its Tibetan pilgrimage.
"Can you tell me if this is a goat, or a sheep? You're right!"
The worlds highest concentration of tibetan prayer flags!!!
This woman had clearly been influenced by Texan tourists before I got to her. Hold on to your heritage Tibetans...dont give in.
Cool stuff that we shopped for in Tibet. You know...like Chinese armor.
Yep, this was a sad irony I couldn't help but photograph.
Sam and I had a running tally of wins at our favorite card game. Unfortunately, this is the only documented record that I was ever ahead during our trip.
1 comment:
Brian, you are so wonderful! Thanks for the dedication and the education into more Chinese and Tibetan culture. You are the coolest person I know. (And that's not just because you dedicated your post to me. ;)) Terrific stuff.
Post a Comment