Rob got Veteran's Day off from work so we took the opportunity to go see Wu Ai Market. It can be a crowded, busy place and I figured better to take him there on an American holiday than on a Chinese holiday or a weekend. The market used to have tons of outdoor vendors, but they are doing some sort of construction or something right now and that is gone. The market currently seems to consist of two large five story buildings linked together by sky bridges. Escalators lead up, but you have to use stairs (or one of the few crowded elevators) to get back down. This seems to be common here. The vendors in the market place generally have little tiny booths about the size of a closet. There are aisles and aisles and I can't imagine ever seeing it all. Some vendors have bigger spaces, more store like, but those are less interesting in general. Once we had wandered around for awhile, we decided to go eat. (I know, Meredith, I am mentioning food again. I won't say where we ate, but there was a Ronald McDonald outside of it.) I didn't really think that we would find much at the market, but wanted to make sure that Rob got there at least once while we live here.
Afterwards we went for a walk toward
s the Imperial Palace. I took these two shots in that area. The first is some guy standing in the back area behind some buildings. The gates are actually open so you can see in. There are so many little nooks and crannies behind and between buildings here and I find them fascinating. The outside can look fine (or sometimes even beautiful) and behind the appearance is quite different. I am hoping to get shots down some of these alleys, but I worry that someone will be around and not appreciate me taking a picture of what they seem to want to keep hidden away. I guess I wouldn't like it if people came to my house and took a picture of the kitchen before I did the dishes. Shenyang seems to be building up so quickly and I find it interesting to see the older, less modern things and places. The second picture is of some guy who was sitting by a gate eating nuts or something. I just liked the way he was sitting there. I guess I lied when I said two shots because I am going to put in a color picture of him too so you can see the colors. Oh, and a PS for Mom or anyone else who is interested. You can click on the pictures if you want to see them bigger. :)
