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January 28, 2009

I found Osama bin Laden.

And in Beijing, no less...

I shot this at the Ditan Park Temple Fair yesterday, where I found Osama selling rubber masks and Ox-themed headgear to the masses. The fair was a total zoo, but as this is my first Lunar New Year in Beijing, I had to check it out.

If you look closely, you'll also see a forlorn-looking George W. Bush mask, and a huge inflatable pile of poop... something to do with good luck and this year's zodiac animal.

posted January 28, 2009 at 09:06 AM unofficial Xinjiang time | Comments (107)

January 26, 2009

I'm Alive. Happy Niu Year.

Another year, another animal crossed-off the Chinese zodiac, as I slowly but surely move towards completing the whole twelve-year cycle.

I shot the above video last night in the square between the Drum Tower and the Bell Tower here in Beijing. It's more than a bit of a cliché to try and wow people not living in China by describing the ferocity of the Lunar New Year fireworks... and I don't really have a good excuse, except that I'd like to add my own personal video to the genre.

The first 20 seconds show what the square looked like when I arrived at about 11:30 pm. The video then cuts to about 2 minutes before midnight, as all hell begins breaking loose.

As if bringing in the Year of the Ox in the perfect Beijing setting wasn't enough, I was also lucky enough to meet Da Shan yesterday... the most famous foreigner ever, period. Now, I can truly say that life is complete. I'd post the photo, but something's wrong with my blog interface and it's not allowing me to upload. I'll post it soon. Click here for the photo!

So, I wish you all health, wealth, and happiness in the New Year!

Err... also, some of you might wonder why I haven't been blogging. The short answer is: I decided to lower my profile after I seemed to be heading towards becoming the target of a human-flesh search engine. The long answer is: how do you keep writing interestingly about Xinjiang while living in Beijing? Only time will tell...

posted January 26, 2009 at 11:04 AM unofficial Xinjiang time | Comments (98)