You can see a local playing Frogger in this shot:

And a more run down area not too far away:

This situation isn’t entirely unusual – it’s the near daily out of body experience one undergoes when crossing the street. I’m going to begin a new photo series with this very theme – so the obituary can have visual content. 

Rush hour is actually safer than most times of the day – much less likely to be maimed by slower cars. Stage 2 takes place at night.

From various spots in Haerbin. 

In Beijing for the next ~4 days, watching people run around in circles, so blogging will resume next week. Until then, food: As another alternative to strictly Chinese food, Lanzhou or Xinjiang Noodles are an excellent choice. It’s basically the Pho of most Chinese cities. I’ve taken a liking to this particular shop, which isn’t far from the University. It’s run by a family of Muslims. It is interesting how some of the locals occassionally treat them – the other day I was eating and a gentleman next to me started asking one of the young girls “do you really speak common Mandarin? I don’t think you understood what I said. Why don’t you understand?” In these rare instances I become rather agitated, and tend to violate the prime directive and start engaging the individual in question, trying to determine if they are just mean people, or mean only to non-Han minorities. You find all sorts.

I liked this picture so much I even made desktops:

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Here’s a sample of the delicious hand-made noodles, for only 4Y:

I find this picture oddly compelling. It’s also important to note the extensive availability of fruit here. The best prices can be found at mobile street-stalls like these: