portrait #2 - in the debris - square # 70

portrait #2 - in the debris, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

An old man in a narrow backstreet in the Zhifu district, in the center of the city, sorts garbage.
photo: mhobbs

portrait #3 - forty winks - square # 69

portrait #3 - forty winks, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

A bearded man, asleep in the back of his "biketruck", in a busy "backstreet" in the center of the city.
photo: mhobbs

sunlight - square # 68

sunlight, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

A woman sells fruit from her "biketruck" in a "nong tang" (alley) in the Laishan district, east of the city
photo: mhobbs

taxi - square # 67

taxi, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

A "motorbike" taxi guy sits in the back of his open air "taxi, waiting for his next 'fare', on a busy street in the center of the city
photo: mhobbs

visible

visible, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

A building in the center of the city that has been partly demolished stands deserted, waiting for the "team" of "workers" (usually migrant workers - payed for the job, not for the number of hours worked) to come in and and "bring the building down". This work is done with simple hand tools.
photo: mhobbs

corner store #9 - hutong

corner store #9 - hutong, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

A corner store at the intersection of two "nong tang's" (alley's) in the Laishan district, in the east of the city
photo: mhobbs

in the dark - square # 66

in the dark, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

A woman prepares a meal at a stall, in a narrow "nong tang" (alley) with only a street light to brighten an otherwise dark restaurant
photo: mhobbs

within

within, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

A "biketruck" stands idle by a dark door, leading to the fish market within the "Yan Da" market in the east of the city
photo: mhobbs

seeds - square #65

seeds, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

A woman at her "seed" stall in a narrow backstreet in the Zhifu district center of the city
photo: mhobbs

eggs

eggs, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

'Salted' duck eggs sit in a pile at a small market stall in the "Laishan District" in the east of the city.
Salted duck eggs (xían yā dàn) pinyin -are a Chinese preserved food product made by soaking duck eggs in brine ( for several days to several months) or packing each egg in damp salted charcoal. The eggs are sometimes sold covered in a thick layer of salted charcoal paste.
photo:mhobbs

side by side #1

side by side #1, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

A woman prepares a meal at a street stall in a "small backstreet" in the Zhifu district close to the center of the city
photo:mhobbs

sunrise - diptych #3

sunrise - diptych #3, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

Sunrise over "Shandong Institute of Business and Technology", in the east of the city, the smokestack burns day and night during the winter months
photo:mhobbs

coca cola - square # 64

coca cola, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

Two young boys share a joke, whilst drinking Coca Cola ("ke kou ke le", translating into "happiness in the mouth". this was later changed to "Shaolin Cola".) from glass bottles, in a small backstreet in the "Zhifu" district in the center of the city.

Its interesting to note that Coca Cola was first introduced into China in 1928, and was the first US company to distribute its products in China after Deng Xiaoping opened the country to foreign investors in 1979. Initially, Coca-Cola imported its products and was only allowed to sell them to foreigners at specially designated retail outlets, such as hotels and Friendship Stores. In 1985 the government permitted the company to sell its products to the Chinese people.
photo:mhobbs

bread man - square # 63

bread man, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

A man stands at the counter of his small "bread and cake" stall at a market in the center of the city
photo: mhobbs

old man on bike - holga #4

old man on bike - holga #4, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

An old man rides his bicycle along a small backstreet in the "Zhifu" district in the north of the city, with a small store in the background.
photo: mhobbs

afternoon - diptych #2

afternoon - diptych #2, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

In a narrow "nong tang" (alley) in a "hutong neighborhood" in the center of the city, two towels hang-out to dry in the bitter cold of the afternoon.
photo: mhobbs

makeshift

makeshift, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

A group of people sit "camped" by a makeshift store near a "hutong" (traditional Chinese alley dwelling) neighborhood, in the shadow of an apartment building
photo: mhobbs

dusk - diptych #1

dusk - diptych #1, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

Busy street market in the center of the city

"Origin: 1615–25; < LL diptycha writing tablet with two leaves < Gk díptycha, neut. pl. of díptychos folded together, equiv. to di- di-1 + -ptychos, verbid of ptýssein to fold]"
photo: mhobbs

futile

futile, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

A red and yellow "post modern" hoarding for a new apartment/department store in the center of the city
photo: mhobbs

corner store #8 - butcher

corner store #8 - butcher, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

In a small backstreet near a "hutong" neighborhood in the center of the city, a small "corner butcher shop" is open to the cold winter air
photo: mhobbs

mud #2

mud #2, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

Hutongs (traditional Chinese alley dwellings) in an old neighborhood in the center of the city
photo: mhobbs

shiny

shiny, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

Shiny shoes (too shiny for me) displayed on a small market stall in the Laishan district in the east of the city
photo: mhobbs

tobacco

tobacco, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

Strapped to the back of a bicycle in a small backstreet in a "hutong" neighborhood in the center of the city, tobacco leaves 'rolled' into bunches ready for sale at a local open air market
photo: mhobbs

row

row, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

A row of "houses" in a narrow "nong tang" (alley) in a "hutong" (traditional Chinese alley dwellings) neighborhood in the center of the city
photo: mhobbs

standing man #2 - square # 62

standing man #2, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

A man stands beside his "biketruck" in a narrow "nong tang" (alley) in the Laishan district in the east of the city
photo: mhobbs

honey bottles

honey bottles, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

In a small outdoor market in the center of the city, "bottles of honey" lined up on a vendors stall
photo: mhobbs

silk worms - square # 61

silk worms, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

A man sits reading a newspaper at his small "silk worm" stall in a small outdoor market in a "hutong" neighborhood in the center of the city
photo: mhobbs

yellow

yellow, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

In a "hutong" (traditional Chinese alley dwelling) neighborhood in the center of the city, a shuttered window on a building with yellow walls
photo: mhobbs

home

home, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

An old man pushes his bicycle along a narrow "nong tang" (alley) in a "hutong" (traditional Chinese alley dwelling) neighborhood in the Laishan district, east of the city
photo: mhobbs

dried "seafood" boxes

dried "seafood" boxes, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

Boxes of "dried seafood" outside a small store in the Dried Seafood market in the "Zhifu" district in the center of the city
photo: mhobbs

dried "seafood"

dried "seafood", originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

A small dried "seafood" store inside the "dried seafood" market in the center of the city
photo: mhobbs

on the right - blue frame #2

on the right - blue frame #2, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

A man walks by a small "seafood" restaurant in a "hutong" (traditional Chinese dwelling) area, in the Zhifu district in the north of the city
photo: mhobbs

stranded - square #60

stranded, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

A man stands by his "cart" "hawking" oranges, in a narrow small backstreet in the center of the city, whilst a sweet potato "roaster" sits seemingly abanded
photo: mhobbs

up

up, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

Yet another "high-rise" building 'goes up" in a once "hutong" (traditional Chinese dwelling) area in the centre of the city
photo: mhobbs

mud

mud, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

In a narrow "nong tang" (alley) in a "hutong" area (traditional Chinese courtyard residence) in the Laishan district in the east of the city, mud forms on the "road" in the late afternoon, as the snow melts, after a heavy snowfall from the previous night
photo: mhobbs

street meeting

street meeting, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

A group of "middle aged" men stand at the intersection of two "nong tang's" (alley's) in the Laishan district, east of the city
photo: mhobbs

hairdresser

hairdresser, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

In a narrow "nong tang" in the far east of the city, an old torn and shredded sign for a "hairdresser" sits on a wall above a now deserted "hairdresser"
photo: mhobbs

blocks

blocks, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

Huge concrete blocks make-up the pier at Yantai beach #1

photo: mhobbs

rusted factory

In a narrow "nong tang" in the Zhifu district in the north of the city a factory that refills empty gas "tanks" for home use, stands deserted and empty

photo: mhobbs

tofu

tofu, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

Two men buy fresh 'Doufu' (Tofu) from a street vendor in the east of the city, who rides his biketruck around the 'hutong's' (traditional Chinese alley dwellings) in the early afternoons, calling in a sing song voice. "Fresh Doufu here..."
Tofu or Doufu as it is called in China, is thought to have been invented over two thousand years ago in China. The high protein, low carb 'soya bean' product is a constant 'staple' in Chinese cooking across most of China
photo: mhobbs

backdoor general - "Zhongkui"

backdoor general - "Zhongkui", originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

In a 'makeshift' store in a narrow 'nong tang' (alley) in the east of the city a statue of a "Chinese Door God" or the "back door general" (Zhongkui) sits on a shelf amongst smaller statues, strictly speaking not a "Door God' but a mythical exorcist or 'ghost catcher' nonetheless his image (or a statue of "him") is often displayed as the "back door general".

The door gods usually come in pairs, facing each other; it is considered bad luck to place the figures back-to-back. There are several different forms of door gods. The most frequently used are 'Qin Qiong" and "Yuchi Jingde".
photo: mhobbs

shell

shell, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

Shell on "beach number 1"in the east of the city. The beaches around Yantai are often crowded with locals and tourists alike in the summer months, I'm not sure why as all the beaches that I have seen are either covered with sharp broken shells and or pollution, not to mention the danger of the polluted ocean itself
photo: mhobbs

boys - square # 59

boys, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

Two young boys in a narrow "nong tang" (alley) in the east of the city. Government statistics show that 117 boys are born for every 100 girls in China, well above the average for industrialized countries of between 104 and 107 boys for every 100 girls. Unless China gets over it�s tradition of wanting male children (to continue the family name, work on the farm and support the family when the parents reach retirement age) over female children the crisis will escalate beyond anyones imagination. As a teacher I see firsthand the consequences of the ill fated "one child policy".(Which of course was put in place as a direct solution to Mao's policy of increasing the population by encouraging families to have many children) The "kids" (around twenty years of age) are socially inept, withdrawn and to put it kindly 'difficult'. The crisis of there being not enough girls for the young men to socialize with and eventually marry will of course led to many problems, sexually transmitted diseases, aggressive behavior (which is already being displayed by many of the students that I teach) are amongst the many that China will need to deal with in the coming years
photo: mhobbs

wide #2 - canteen

wide #2 - canteen, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

Two young "workers" at canteen # 3 at Shandong Institute of Business and Technology" clean-up after the early evening (read 6pm) dinner rush
photo: mhobbs

fish women - square # 58

fish women, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

Two women sit at their 'fish stall' in a small "outdoor" market in the far east of the city
photo: mhobbs

corner cards - square # 57

corner cards, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

A group of men play cards near a "Hutong" (traditional Chinese alley dwelling) area in the Zhifu district in the north of the city
photo: mhobbs

corner store #7 - standing man - square # 56

corner store #7 - standing man, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

A man stands outside a small 'corner store' in the Zhifu district, north of the city
photo: mhobbs

hat man

hat man, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

An old man walks down a narrow "nong tang" (alley) on the northern edge of the city
photo: mhobbs

factory gate

factory gate, originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

In a narrow "nong tang" (alley) in the 'Zhifu' district on the northern edge of the city a disused factory now used as a "drop-off" point for cardboard and paper collected throughout the city to be used as recycling material
photo: mhobbs

empty "space"

empty "space", originally uploaded by china.sixty4.

In a country with over 1.3 billion people (and counting) and a limited amount of space with a growing population of 'homeless' people, I find it inconceivable that a building in the center of the city lays empty and abandoned. This building once an office building built in the early part of the 20th century (probably around the mid 1930's) is one of many that is empty and disused.
photo: mhobbs