In the city of beggars and salespersons

JULY 13, 2007: Having wrangled four days off, we headed for Changchun. This is already sounding like an inane travel diary so i'll keep most of the words to myself. Photos

The bus was cramped to the point that the operators pulled out stools for people to sit on in the aisles, wrapping their legs around the person in front.


People set up stalls in the right hand lane of the 100km/h highway.


Changchun's the capital of Jilin Province and an auto-assembly plant city. It's pretty rich. Apparently people are more likely to spend more money in your shop if you pay someone to clap outside. It must work...


It's full of beggars.

The beggars of Changchun are astonishing in their variety. Male, female, old, young, fat, thin, ragged, respectable, passed out, busy, alcoholic, Muslim. They came in all shapes, sizes, colours, ages and appear in all types of poses. The police don't harrass them so they're allowed to sprawl on the sidewalks all day. Perhaps they understand that in such a 'face' obsessed society no-one would choose to live like this.










But the beggars' fate is surely better than this. You thought that Dominoes Pizza wobble-board guy had it bad? Here the companies can afford a chain gang Hari-Krishna band instead. Krishna Krishna, help these poor souls.


Yes, it does appear these photographs of Changchun are limited to photographs of beggars and salespeople. There are some of other subjects here.