“Sometimes we don’t even realize what we really care about, because we get so distracted by the symbols.”
― Tom Wolfe, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
Back in 2006, just before my first Spring Festival celebration in China, I wandered the streets of Shanghai. My travel companion was busy most days with her friend, so I was usually pointed in a direction to sightsee and attempt to not get too lost (with my limited Mandarin ability at the time, I probably would not have found my way to the usual meeting point).
Most of the days’ activities were centered on the Jing’An area of Shanghai — the temple that has since been remodeled to the point of being unrecognizable and the enormous mall at which I had my morning coffee while waiting for my travel companion who couldn’t contact me because I had no mobile phone.
I set about wandering the nearby area as I waited each day and took photos of what was interesting, or at least the angles I found interesting.
I was lost in my camera viewfinder as I gazed at buildings and life that moved past, ignoring the noise of the shoppers going in and out of the posh shops of Nanjing Road. I took this photo from the foot of the lion guarding Jing’An Temple.
