Sights of China

I believe these are lotus flowers.  Displayed in the lobby of the Jin Jiang Hotel. Beautiful sight to see every morning. 

I dove into the alleyway off of a very busy road while in Beijing and found a whole alley community alive and buzzing within it. This guy was making an Onion Pancake.  A huge Onion Pancake.  

Fun to watch.

In the middle of an area I can only describe as the Amsterdam of Beijing, amongst pipe houses, flower-child clothing stores, was this roasted duck place.  Oddly fitting, but still entirely curious, and emitting some pretty good aromas.

 While walking randomly through Shanghai, I came upon this older man playing Chinese chess on a homemade cardboard chess board.  He was furiously sucking on his cigarette, which had only a millimeter of tobacco left to go, and all the while, his opponent was heckling him, and a bystander was yelling instructions to him.  He never wavered.  Nerves of steel.

There's an area off a main road with all of the common fashion brands one would find anywhere else in the world called Tian Zi Fang.  Once you dive into the maze of alleys off that road, you're transported into this Bohemian-type world that's definitely worth visiting.  Here are a bunch of pictures from that area. 

The guard dog of an art gallery.  
This dog was better dressed than its owner

I can't even remember what this store was selling.  I was completely and utterly distracted by 
how cool their lighting system was...

Ah yes.  At the Beijing Airport.  
Even the shape of the cups and graphics 
on them are a dead-on rip-off.