Ranajit!'s Blog (5)

Shenzhen has a new logo out; the Municipal Bureau of Culture, Sports and Tourism wants to promote the city as "Innovative Shenzhen, Capital of Fashion.” Designed by Shenzhen Zhang Dali Design Co. Ltd., this is what the logo looks like

 …

Her name was Jessie, and she was from Henan. I was new in Shenzhen, and looking for someone to teach me Mandarin, and Jessie was the first woman responding to my Shenzhen Party ad who wasn’t downright ugly. In fact, you could say she was attractive, although just how she looked escapes me now; five years can end up blurring the faces of people you once knew well. If I saw her now, I would probably recognize her, but currently all that remains in the Jessie part of my brain is the details:…

If I had to pick an adjective to describe Saturday afternoon in a park, I would probably choose something like languid. Relaxing and uneventful would also fit the description, I suppose. Donghu Park in Luohu, therefore, might not have been entirely prepared for the revelry that was unleashed in it yesterday afternoon. And what revelry it was, my brothers! There was beer-swilling, Arabic dancing, hugging and more hugging, as we wallowed in the euphoria of it all. We…

Shuiwei is bubbling with life on any given day; on the afternoon of Wednesday, Chinese New Year’s Eve, it was about to explode. The area’s already impressive lineup of beggars seemed to have been bolstered by the arrival of numerous reinforcements displaying a wide range of both age and deformity; prostitutes were already out and strutting about, as if smelling a coming windfall (we all need someone to hold during the holiday season, right?); and sobbing schoolgirls lined the sidewalks with…