Category > signs

The love child of English and Chinese

As seen in 帽儿胡同 Mao’er Hutong, near 南锣鼓巷 Nanluoguxiang. This sign for a bookstore/tea house represents what I like best about Beijing’s–and China as a whole–burgeoning interest in design and language, the way that it cleverly takes both Chinese characters and the English alphabet to create something new. In the Traditional character for book 書 [...]

Continue reading

中国-别无他处 China – Nowhere else

I can’t believe that in 2010 I only updated this blog four times. Every few weeks someone reminds me of how much they love this blog, even through its long silences, so darlings, I am listening. Yes, this blog still lives, and I still live here in Beijing. In the meantime, Beijing has actually become [...]

Continue reading

street signs of beijing

I’m now catching up on the huge backlog of posts that I have built up in my unexpected two month break from this blog.   (Ritan Park forbids visitors from everything.) Beijing has a number of interesting street signs. To be honest with you, I can’t really explain why I am interested in them. Part [...]

Continue reading

please don’t poop here!

It’s not every day that you go to the bathroom and the toilet requests that there be “no shitting here”! And it’s not every day that it’s accompanied by a little illustration of a turd in turmoil. NLGX in Nanluoguxiang has such a toilet. First came the actual sign. Then came a translation, with more [...]

Continue reading

trader zhou’s

Trader Joe’s, meet Trader Zhou’s. Trader Joe’s in America, a grocery store mostly known for its excellent and cheap natural foods. (And two buck chuck.) (Image from Business Week.) Trader Zhou’s in Beijing, a wine shop. No two buck chuck in there!

Continue reading

beijing public toilets, the video game

Alas, I’m just kidding. But that is exactly what I thought when I was walking out of the Dongsishitao subway station and saw this handy map. Lights on this electronic map randomly flash to draw attention to the various locations of the toilets; in the picture it is at the top right hand corner. I’m [...]

Continue reading

be part of the Olympics by climbing the stairs on Wednesdays

The Cure song “Friday, I’m in Love” has it that on Wednesdays you can be grey, break my heart, have a heart attack, or stay in bed, but no such problems for Beijing in its Olympic year. On Wednesdays in Beijing, you can take part in the Olympics in your own way by climbing the [...]

Continue reading

subway signs

This is a sign from the Beijing authorities prohibiting dangerous items in the subway. Note the artistic twist on 危险品 (flammable items), withthe little flame acting as the first 口 in 品. But this next one is even better, with its eclectically dressed mannequins carrying items of dubious morality.  Both of these signs were found [...]

Continue reading