Random Place of the day: OLD STREET. The one we visited before was only a small segment. This is the real deal.
A church under construction outside the main entrance of the street (Where tourists bus drop off their passengers)
Just outside the entrance. The street is modeled to look like the ones before, so it gives this nostalgic feel throughout. This was taken at about 8 am in the morning, before most of my friends got out of bed or before any of the tour groups could arrive. (I knew that getting out of bed when the sun rose was going to be a problem)
A statue to indicate where the food shops are. If you didn't look carefully you would have thought the man seated at the table was real.
Portait of the building, so you can see how does the top floor looks like. Now it looks out of proportion.
Some photo prop for tourists to step on and say "I went to the old cultural street in TianJin, here's the photo to prove it" *SNAP*
A side alley, but this one is dealing with antiques. You can buy from the shopkeepers, but each stall has unique items, so you can see what you want and just buy straight from them. I cannot guarantee that it's original though.
Some people still sell Chinese medicine too. About this time (830) people start to stream in early. These shopkeepers could have been here since the crack of dawn. I am no where near to consider myself early.
I didn't plan that. It's random?
An idea how shopkeepers lay out their goods for sale. They just get a mat, and lay everything out flat on the ground. The small items are usually away from the shopkeeper, and the more valuable ones are closer to them.
You're always free for a game of chess when there isn't much human traffic.
They do sell many different kind of things, including this batch of jade pieces.
Chess catches on better than any iPhone game there. It appears everyone is an expert in their own right
Along the back street intersection.
They don't just sell antiques, they have ivory pieces too. Sometimes you would see children helping out at the stall too.
Teapots. There's one at home, and I don't really use it. Some of their designs are nice though
Translation: Old Entertainment City. Sounds like the abandoned arcade in Tron Legacy.
Think this was the street where all the restaurants were located. Just that it's too early in the morning to serve lunch
It's very quiet. I think I was the only wandering tourist who walked there by accident.
Back to the main street again. Now there's slightly more people.
I don't know how or why this stone got onto a pedestal in the middle of the street. Neither do I understand why all these people keep touching it.
Batches of tourist crowds. It is easy to get lost. It is also to join the wrong tour group. It is easy to lose your belongings.
A Chinese restaurant entrance. They bought the area at the end of the street and rebuilt it themselves.
I don't know how did this get inside as well.
Outside a calligraphy shop now. You can see all the calligraphic works on display. Its too heavy to steal it anyway. Getting close to them is already a problem.
Yes, now it's verry crowded. I nearly lost sight of my friend here.
There is a full maximization of space. Even the walkway between the streets can be used to set up shop/park bikes.
I guess there is always the space constrain.
Map of the area, so you would know where you are and not get lost. I already feel very lost looking at the map. I don't even know which part of the map we were at.
Back street this time. I shan't say how we got there, but all I can say it's pretty unexpected. And a big tent sits at the entrance.
A old lady who was helping us make words on rice thing. She spent essentially the whole morning to do it for us, and I helped her chide tourists who would didn't buy from her.
The stall next to the old lady's. He specializes in carving out egg shells into designs, and he was sanding out an ostrich egg when I went to visit him. It's very dusty there due to the bits of eggshell flying about.
Another stall this time, this one sells gourds of various sizes. I have a tiny gourd (My buddy passed it to me on my last day in Tianjin), and I don't think I'm throwing it away. Too precious already.
That's the giant tent I was telling you about. You can start guessing where it is now.
A workers quarters. I don't mind staying here, but I hear it's pretty rife with ghosts and spirits.
Curious tourists. Lucky there weren't many who found the place.
Place is not very big.. The old lady was at the stall on the extreme right.
Random
On my way to the washroom
These were taken by my friend. She wanted to make a dough model, so the shopkeeper obliged and made one for her. I asked her to take photos of the process so I could stone while waiting for the old lady
This one as well
I don't know what cartoon is, but i think the crown on the head is kinda cool.
The small alley we were was a "branch" of the stall. It's actually near the art galleries.
I think we stayed with them so long, that we had "special treatment" from other customers. I don't think they remember us now.
Time: 2pm. The modern office building behind the street made a pretty nice contrast with the cultural street in the foreground.
As we were leaving the street. I think there was a magician's hangout somewhere in front. I don't bear to leave actually. I don't mind staying there for the rest of my life.
A sculpture entrance. I wondered how do they carve the ball out hollow.
In a taxicab on the way back to the hotel. The bicycles parked outside the windows looks like a university building.
You can cycle on the roads. No one will attempt to run you over.
They have their own separate lanes.
Outside somewhere again. There was a holdup, but that was it
The last picture of TJ 2011. *Sigh*
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