Not-So-Hidden Dragon

At Zhongshan Park in Shenyang, Liaoning Province

The U.S. Election, China, and Blogging

I have been asked about the reaction in China to the recent U.S. presidential election. I point people towards "What the Chinese State Thinks About President Trump" on China Digital Times, in part because it refers to a number of relevant pieces.

There is much value in understanding people's perspective on the U.S. election, and it is rather relevant to some of my interests. But I have not dedicated much time asking people in China about the election, mostly because after spending so much of my own time on it, I wanted to focus on other things when "out in the field" — yes, even including Halloween pizzas.

And I saw reasons to focus on other topics here. For example, I remembered readers back in 2012 telling me they appreciated having a place to get away from election news, commentary, and discussion. Elections are important, but so is relative sanity. Had China come up in the election in a way where I thought I could add something to what was already out there, I would have. Overall, I figured my 1 or 2 cents to the world would be better spent focused on things more closely related to my current explorations in China.

The election's effect on posts here was mostly in reducing their numbers or depth. Admittedly the election absorbed a significant portion of my mental energy and time, perhaps too much in respect to what I could or did contribute and how much it could influence that — interesting questions there in general. It mattered a lot though.

Anyway, back to things tomorrow . . .

Trump, Kaine, and "Lock Her Up": An Unexpected Conversation at a Fitting Location in China

A few weeks ago in Northeast China while I walked alongside a river somebody shouted at me "Do you speak English?"

I looked over and saw two men. I replied "I hope so!"

I soon learned that one of the men was Irish and visiting China. The other was Chinese and had grown up in the local area but had spent 15 years living in Ireland. The Irishman asked me about my nationality. After answering, his immediate followup question was "Will you be able to go back to vote?"

He wasn't asking out of idle curiosity. Like some other non-American foreigners I have recently bumped into in China, he expressed great concern over the U.S. presidential election and the ramifications it would have on the rest of the world. He feared Donald Trump winning. When the Irishman called the election "crazy", my mind immediately went to something I would have hoped to never experience — a U.S. presidential candidate declaring that if they won their opponent would go to jail and saying "lock her up" in response to a chanting, supportive crowd.

I briefly thought about politics in the place where I was standing. I also thought about the mountains within view on the other side of the river. I had never been so close to them before. Now they seemed closer in a more figurative sense as well.

Regarding the nearby town next to the mountains, the Chinese man shared reports from locals of how 600 people had died there during a flood several months earlier. Even from our own vantage point, it was apparent they had far less to protect themselves from floods. Life is different on the other side of the river.

Fortunately, the conversation included many cheerier moments. To my surprise, the Irishman had several fascinating stories to share about his connections to the Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine, who has strong Irish roots. Based on his account, many in Ireland are proud of Kaine.

Soon it was time to part ways, and the three of us took a photo together. Afterwards, the Irishman asked, "Is it OK to share the photo? Do people know you are here?"

I pointed across the river and joked, "I think they know I'm here." I gestured to our side and added, "They know I'm here."

They both laughed. And then I asked if I could take a photo of just the two of them. They stood next to each other in front of some trees. I suggested they stand in another location so I could get a different angle. The Irishman immediately recognized why and agreed it was better.

It wasn't usual for either of us to be just across the river from a town and mountains in North Korea.

Some of the Halloween Spirit in Shenyang

Pizza Hut's Black Halloween Pizza wasn't the only sign of Halloween in Shenyang, China. For example, there was a house of mirrors at the Forum 66 shopping mall.

The Palace 66 shopping mall had a little more.

The bare shoulder is part of a non-Halloween Häagen-Dazs advertisement

The Halloween festivities included a "haunted playground".

There was also a somewhat macabre merry-go-round.

The Xinglong Happy Family shopping mall at the Zhong Jie Pedestrian Street had one of the larger outdoor displays.

The vast majority of places displayed no Halloween spirit, but I saw other examples, mostly at shopping centers, restaurants, and a hair salon or two. This year, sadly, there will be no Halloween night report. I had left Shenyang by then and my next location was unusually cold that night. For some Chinese Halloween night scenes,  though, there is last year's post from Shaoguan far to south.

Pizza Hut Celebrates Halloween with a Spidery Black Pizza in China

One of my interests involves seeing how Western companies localize their products and services in China. Sometimes that leads to culinary explorations during holidays, such as trying McDonald's Year of Fortune Burger for the Lunar New Year when I was in Chongqing. Halloween is another holiday which offers possibilities.

Last year in Shaoguan, Guangdong, I noted that a Halloween promotion at Pizza Hut featuring M&M's didn't include an M&M's pizza. So there was no special pizza for me that day. But things change . . . This year, Pizza Hut once again had a Halloween promotion, which I saw while in Shenyang, Liaoning. Instead of M&M's, Vamplets were the main characters accompanying the "Black Halloween" spirit.

Like last year, there were fingers on the special Halloween menu, although the ingredients weren't the same. More importantly to me, the menu had a special pizza which screamed to be tried.

The menu says the Black Halloween Pizza (暗黑魔法烤肉比萨) is made with cuttlefish powder. Like their close relatives, squid, cuttlefish can shoot ink. Given the black coloring of the pizza, I assume cuttlefish ink is at least one ingredient in the powder. Whatever the case, of course I ordered the pizza.

Yes, there is a spider on the pizza. This is not the first time I have encountered a spider on a Pizza Hut pizza. Decades ago at a Pizza Hut in Pennsylvania, US, my brother discovered a spider baked into our pizza's cheese. It wasn't Halloween and spiders weren't listed as an ingredient for the pizza, so the folks at Pizza Hut made appropriate amends. Unlike that spider, the spider on the Black Halloween Pizza is made out of the black dough. Too bad, since it has been a while since I have eaten large spiders.

The black pizza dough spider deserves a closeup look.

The pizza includes New Orleans Roasted Chicken, which seems to be a common thing in China, even if not in New Orleans, and pumpkin as well. The spider web is made out of a mayonnaise so sweet that . . . well, I did my best to scrape it off. There is no tomato pizza sauce, which may be why the waitress brought out some ketchup. I was more happy to see the unrequested appearance of Tabasco sauce. Well done, waitress. It really helped.

Overall, I liked the Black Halloween Pizza more than the pizza with New Orleans style toppings I had along with Pizza Hut's durian pizza in Jieyang, Guangdong. The pumpkin was a welcomed change of pace, but I don't think I will be craving the Black Halloween Pizza anytime in the future, unlike Mr. Panda's black Inkfish Pizza, which I tried in Shanghai.

Maybe next year Pizza Hut will go with real spiders as a topping for a Halloween pizza. I would definitely give it a try.

The Many Faces Around the Mao Zedong Statue in Shenyang

The statue of Mao Zedong at in Zhongshan Square in Shenyang is remarkable for its size and how it fits in with a skyline that continues to be altered by new tall buildings. And on many days, smog adds adds to the effect. The figures surrounding Mao are what caught my attention the most though. The photos below begin at the front and go around in a counter-clockwise direction. There is a lot going on, and I won't try to suggest what most deserves attention or what to take from it all. But the dense scenes are worth a closer look.

Mao Smog in Shenyang

On the same day I saw an advertisement for blue spirits contrasting with a grey sky, I looked down a smoggy street in Shenyang. A view behind me was striking as well.

More about the Mao Zedong statue later.

Smog and Blue Spirits in Shenyang

One the same day I photographed one of the many smoggy streets in Shenyang, a digital billboard also caught my attention. A weather forecast on it didn't offer any specifics but seemed a bit optimistic.

If the contrast lowered people's spirits, perhaps what they needed were . . . some spirits. The digital billboard displayed one possible solution: Tianzhilan.

Yanghe Distillery, whose ads I have seen in many Chinese cities, has some inspiring words about this baijiu:

The heights of heaven radiate hues of blue—the essence of Tianzhilan is loftiness, the upper limits of our imaginations. A glass of Tianzhilan contains the expanses of the heavens, and only those with the courage to soar will experience its beauty.

Assuming heaven is full of clean air, that could do the trick. Some people may be more influenced by the smoggy Red Star Wine ad I first saw in Beijing though. Red Star is also a lot cheaper. At least people have options, if they have the courage.

Baijiu Bridge Blues

I hadn't planned on walking under this elevated road, but, as the photo strongly suggests, I did. The walk turned out to be rather interesting — much more interesting than the baijiu museum which had brought me out to this part of Shenyang in the first place. The baijiu museum sold many things. I didn't buy most of them, but I did buy some baijiu. Oddly enough, I drank it too. So here we are.

Despite the title to this post, I have no recent major blues to report. That part just rolled off of a tongue appreciative of alliteration. I was enjoying myself when I took the photo (prior to visiting the baijiu musem), and I am now (after visiting the baijiu museum). I suppose you could say the baijiu museum was just a bridge between those two states. Perhaps the museum inspired the title to a small degree though. More about it another day...

A Smoggy Street in Shenyang

Today was one of those days in Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning province, when you didn't need a portable air-monitoring device to know there was a lot of pollution in the air.

Nanjing North Street today at 3:51 p.m.

Particles Inside: Time to Put on a Face Mask at the Gym

Years ago when I worked out at a gym in Shanghai, I occasionally wondered about the gym's air quality. I didn't notice anything obviously wrong, but there were still reasons to question whether they were using an effective air filtration system.

Today Benjamin Carlson, who is based in Beijing, checked the air inside one gym and . . .

The day I decided to wear a mask at the gym pic.twitter.com/6r6IBwElv9

— Benjamin Carlson (@bfcarlson) October 19, 2016

That is pretty bad air. I understand Carlson's choice to wear a mask. Although there is reason to believe exercising in some types of pollution without a mask is better than not exercising at all, clean air is better (not even going to bother to source the last claim). Despite the logic, there is still something extra depressing about feeling compelled to wear a mask indoors.

The mobile air monitor Carlson is holding appears to be a Laser Egg made by Origins Technology. Paul Bischoff reported on the device's release and the technology inside it last year for Tech in Asia:

As the particles are pulled in by a fan, they pass in front of a laser. The laser refracts onto a photo sensor. This allows the device to instantly work out the size and number of particles in the air. These types of devices typically cost anywhere from US$500 to US$10,000, but Origins claims to use the same technology in Laser Egg at a fracion of the cost.

I have been tempted to buy one myself. I wonder how many times as I have traveled across the China it would have convinced me to go to sleep wearing a mask.

More of What is Behind the Mudanjiang Wanda Plaza

A dog meat restaurant isn't all that is behind the Mudanjiang Wanda Plaza. It was getting dark as I walked around, but I was able to take a few photos near the restaurant including these two of buildings which appear to have been around long before Wanda:

And this is the view looking approximately south down West 7th Road, which runs along the eastern side of the Mudanjiang Wanda Plaza.

The dog meat restaurant is on the right, and close behind it, mostly out of view, is where I took the first two photos. The area on the left side of the road in the photo appears to have been recently demolished. And in the background is a newer development.