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