Dragon in the Mall

One day our group went to an ancient marketplace (a lot of places in China are ancient) and I came around the corner and came face to face with this friendly dragon. The photo does not do it justice - the artwork on the face was very impressive. This was not part of a parade - it was a permanent part of the marketplace. There were thousands of shoppers in this maze of narrow alleys, most of whom were youngish couples. The little shops sold everything imaginable, from jewelry to Communist Party literature - there were even copies of Mao's Little Red Book and Korean War-era posters picturing US planes being shot down. In general, the Mao period and its images are still very much in evidence. Mao's picture is on the currency, and his photo was all over the hotel where I stayed. (One such photo - of Mao meeting with some Russians - had a caption that read: "Chairman Mao Zedong meets with leaders of the Union of Soviet Socialite Republics." Ha! No wonder the USSR went bust, being led by a bunch of socialites.)