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.

What's Behind? More About the Sign and Flags at the Guomao Shopping Center in Mudanjiang

Yesterday I stopped by Culture Square in Mudanjiang yet again. When I arrived, I began questioning an earlier claim I had made — that the photo in the previous post showed a view from "behind the [main] sign" for the Guomao Shopping Center. I had characterized the view this way in part due to three reasons.

1. Viewed from the other side of the square, the large Chinese characters most visible on the metal gratings are "国贸商城" — the shopping center's name spelled from left to right. But from the photo's viewpoint the characters most visible, which are on the opposite side of the metal gratings, are "城商贸国" — the name of the shopping center spelled right to left. Typically, modern Chinese is written left to right when horizontal, but, long story short, right to left is still used in some contexts today. However, left to right would be more typical for a shopping center. It is also how the name is displayed anywhere else I have seen it at the shopping center.

2. The characters on both sides are affixed to a common set of metal gratings and are partly visible from behind.

3. The set of characters for the left-to-right spelling face a much larger area of the square. Here is a photo of a small portion of that side of the square with the sign in the distance:

So without any deep thought, I described the photo as being taken from a location behind the sign.

But . . .

The right-to-left spelling of the shopping center's name (again, the one easily seen in the photo) stands over the shopping center's main entrances. So there is an argument for calling it the front side.

Also, the characters affixed to one side of the metal gratings aren't directly connected to those on the other side. So it would be reasonable to say there are in fact two signs. From that perspective, what I wrote would be correct if the sign facing the largest area of the square is considered to be the main sign. But with it mostly out of view in the photo and the other sign appearing prominently, it strikes me as a potentially confusing or not especially useful description.

You could say I see several sides of this issue, which interests me because it relates to some of my earlier research on visuo-spatial cognition and language. If I wrote the previous post now, I would simply mention the sign in a way which avoided the issue. And then I wouldn't need to write this post, which will probably cause far more confusion than the earlier post.

Since I have made this unexpected return to the shopping center, I will share something more about the topic which caused me to mention in it the first place — Chinese and red flags periodically appearing there during recent days. I had hypothesized the reason I didn't see the flags one late afternoon was because they are only put out during opening hours to celebrate the National Day of the People's Republic of China. Consistent with that explanation, yesterday I had the pleasure to see them being removed about one hour before the shopping center closed.

I was hoping there would be more pomp and circumstance though.



UPDATE: A closer look at a part of the sign here.

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.

A Brief Disturbance in the Peace at People's Park in Mudanjiang

Especially for those who feel they need a break from news and analysis about the presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in the U.S., here is a photo of another "debate" which recently occurred.

A man on the left side of the photo was pulled away while the man in the center of the photo wearing a white shirt did his best to have the last word. I noticed the heated dispute at its end and have no idea what caused it. I doubt it related to U.S. presidential politics though, since the setting was a park, almost all of which was more peaceful, rather far away from the U.S.

Mudanjiang in China's Heilongjiang province is also far away from the two cities featured in many recent posts — Macau and Zhuhai. More about Mudanjiang and other locations in Northeast China, otherwise known as Dongbei, later. And more about Macau, Zhuhai, and other topics as well. Hopefully that won't anger anybody.

Chinese Man Unleashes the Great Running Faucet in Japan

Although anti-Japanese attitudes are common in China, many Chinese travel to Japan every year for tourism or business. Some will even go there during a Victory Over Japan holiday.

But who knows how many people do this:

Chinese pingpong champion Wang Nan says her husband was right to leave the faucet running in a Japanese hotel to waste water as revenge over Japan for invading China 85 years ago.

“It was really satisfying to keep the water running in a Japanese hotel,” the husband gleefully posted on the Chinese microblog Weibo.

In response, Adam Minter went with "Revenge just isn't what it used to be ...". Read the full article on The Asahi Shimbun for the reactions that show not everybody in China was impressed with this act of water either.

No word yet if the man also left the mini fridge door open.

Not Just Sitting Around in Zhuhai

At East Street (东大街) in Nanping, Zhuhai

Not Just Standing Around in Macau

At Pátio de Hó Chin Sin Tong

View of Macau and Zhuhai from Above Avenida da Ponte da Amizade

One more cross-border view — this photo taken from a pedestrian bridge over Avenida da Ponte da Amizade in Macau:

The tall buildings next to the road can be seen in the previous post's photo. The buildings much farther away in the background are across the border in Zhuhai and near where I took the earlier photo.

The next photos I share taken from the area here and before won't feature the two neighboring cities, but instead some new bridges and artificial islands.

View of Zhuhai and Macau from Lovers' Lane

To complement the recent photos taken in Macau which show the neighboring city Zhuhai on the other side of a body of water, here is a photo taken at the popular Lovers' Lane in Zhuhai which shows Macau on the other side of another body of water:

One notable aspect of the photo are the cranes towering over the under-construction building on the far right in Zhuhai and the buildings with greenish scaffolding left of center in Macau. The change in Macau's skyline is evident when comparing this photo to a couple of photos taken from a similar vantage point shared in a post from four years ago about the border between Zhuhai and Macau.

There is another notable change, though it is more difficult to see in the photo. Near Macau and running roughly parallel to its shoreline, there is now a land bridge. It doesn't look like much, but it is an important part of an extensive series of bridges, tunnels, and artificial islands under construction which will connect Zhuhai and Macau to Hong Kong across the Pearl River Estuary. More about that massive, expensive, and delayed project and how it has changed views from both Zhuhai and Macau later.

Views of Macau and Zhuhai from Fort Monte

For readers relatively new to this blog, I want to highlight some posts from previous years about the border between Zhuhai, a city in Guangdong province, and Macau, one of China's two Special Administrative Regions. Posts covered topics including mainland Chinese who visit Zhuhai but don't have the special permit they need to enter Macau, the fences and walls separating the cities, a comparison of waterside walkways with views (which have since significantly changed) of the other city, and the grey market (which appears to have since evolved as well) that flows across the border.

To add to the series of posts, below are several photos taken from Macau's historical Monte Fort, in order facing approximately northwest, west, and southwest. They capture Macau in the foreground and Zhuhai towards the background. Water separates the cities in the photos, though it is isn't visible in all places. For example, the tall, slender building on the far left side of the last photo is in Zhuhai (more about it another day).

When I am in the heart of Macau, Zhuhai often feels like it is a world away. Views such as these remind me of how close it remains, as long as I have my passport and Chinese visa.