A Last Sandwich in Taiyuan

As recents posts here and here indicate, I am no longer in Taiyuan, and have most recently been in Zhuhai and Macau far to the south. Leaving Taiyuan proved to be more challenging than I had expected. After I told the person at the Taiyuan Wusu International Airport check-in counter my destination, she asked "What time?" with a tone voice indicating something wasn't quite right.

My flight had been canceled. C'est la vie.

Long story short, it made more sense for me to take the flight at the same time the next day than taking a flight much later than same day which I believed had a good chance of being delayed. Fortunately, Taiyuan's airport isn't very far from the city center. Soon the staff of the hotel where I had been staying was surprised to see me again, and I was taking advantage of the opportunity to do / eat a bit more in Taiyuan.

When I arrived at the airport the next morning, all was fine except I was hungry. At an airport in a city such as Taiyuan, I would expect to find restaurants serving overpriced and / or unexciting Chinese food and KFC. But the Taiyuan airport offered a changed of pace.

I didn't expect Subway to be my last meal in Taiyuan. Admittedly, it wasn't my first sandwich in Taiyuan, but this one didn't have donkey meat.

Another Late Night Meal

A return to a familiar place . . .

Not Much Action Here Today

I am going to follow the spirit of a sign I saw today and keep things low key here.

If I see this sign for sale, I will be tempted to buy the whole set.

Monday Night on a Street in Macau

Saturday Night on a Street in Macau

A Step Away from Adidas: Adisco Shoes in China

Business is getting better in China for sports brands such as Nike and Adidas. But as Bruce Einhorn reported in Bloomberg, not all sports brands are happy:

The sports boom has yet to pay off for some of China's home-grown brands. Competition from Adidas, Nike and other foreign brands is hurting many of them, with order growth falling from high double-digits last year to low-to-mid double digits in early 2016, according to a Fitch Ratings report published on June 3. Fitch expects “smaller domestic manufacturers' margins to come under pressure in the next five years due to increasing competition, their limited pricing flexibility to distributors and rising labor costs.”

In response, some Chinese sports brands are "looking for foreign assistance". I saw one potentially relevant example in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, although I don't think it is what Einhorn had in mind.

Before highlighting the notable shoe store, I will first share a photo of a different shoe store in Taiyuan. Its sign features Adidas, Nike, and New Balance:

One could ask whether the store in Taiyuan sells genuine Adidas, Nike, and New Balance shoes. I did not ask this question. Instead, I took the photo simply because I wanted a recent example of the Adidas three bar logo. So simple. So recognizable.

Now, here is a shoe store I saw in another shopping district in Taiyuan which has arguably received some foreign assistance:

As I assume most readers immediately noticed, Adisco's logo, indicated as registered, is rather similar to the Adidas three bar logo. One difference is that two of the bars are subtly divided into smaller sections.

Adisco's shoes display a similar approach. Many feature a three stripe design Adidas fans would quickly recognize. Two of the stripes are subtly divided into smaller sections, though.

A shiny golden certificate in the store declares that Adisco is a "China Shoes Apparel Industry Well Known Brand".

The certificate lists an official website for inquiries: www.chinacqbc.org. I have yet to find anything functional at that address, so I have not able to inquire about their standards. But the certificate's shininess is undeniable.

Also undeniable is that the store was using a Nike shoebox.

It seemed like an odd choice. Perhaps they were going for a "we're crushing Nike" message.

Although there may be little doubt about Adisco's source of inspiration, I don't know if Adidas has challenged them or how Chinese courts would rule. There are many relevant factors to consider, and the results of trademark disputes can be surprising. One of Adidas's competitors which appears on the first store's sign has run into much bigger trademark problems. More about that later.

Thinking Big Small

Smart car promotion next to Wanda Plaza in Taiyuan

More Play and Another Chainsaw in Taiyuan

An advertisement for Jolin Tsai's concert wasn't the only example combining "play" and "chainsaws" I have seen in Taiyuan. Alongside Dong'an Road I watched a man shoot water at a little girl who defended herself with an umbrella.

She also held a toy chainsaw. I am not sure of what she had in mind. I didn't see any disco balls around, but it looked like a good time.

Play, Chainsaws, and Smashing Ukeleles in Taiyuan

In a section of Taiyuan with several newer shopping centers, over a month ago I saw the above advertisement for Taiwanese pop star Jolin Tsai's (蔡依林) concert featuring music from her most recent album "Play". A concert poster with a fuller image reveals that Tsai is destroying a disco ball.

Source

I am guessing that Tsai didn't really put herself at risk of being cut by flying disco ball shards, no matter what her feelings towards disco balls may be.

Whatever the case, the video for the song "Play" is remarkable. So much happens that I don't even know where to begin. In the 2014 piece "Asia’s Dancing Queen May Have Given Us the Year’s Best Pop Music Video" in Time, Nolan Feeney highlighted some key parts:

Nudity, aerobics-inspired choreography and fantastical colors all play major roles in the Sims-inspired clip. Also, someone gets hit in the face with a ukelele, so there’s that, too.

The scenes with apparent nudity are appropriately blurred, so the video should be safe for work as long as a company doesn't have a strict ukelele-violence policy. The official YouTube version doesn't include English subtitles, but this video does (may need to click "CC" to turn them on):

For those in the U.S. now wishing they could see the Play World Tour live, you missed a big chance. Tsai performed in Atlantic City earlier this year.

A Chinese Pavilion in Taiyuan

Another scene from Wenying Park in Taiyuan:

Although the pavilion was less secluded and didn't require as much of a climb, it reminded me of a xiangqi game under a pavilion in far-away Yangjiang.

Two Cs on One Head

Hearts aren't the only symbol I have seen on children's heads in Taiyuan. This boy's hair brought to mind the knockoff Chanel shirts I have seen in China:

I think that is heart on the top of his head as well.

Two Hearts on One Head

While most children in China don't have their hair shaved into a recognizable pattern, I have seen numerous examples of the practice. A recent one from Wenying Park in Taiyuan: