(Sony A55)This is a fun shot to the author as the tiny chiwawa leading the way and the owner following the lead, the background (a constuction site suggesting a messy works area) with the seemingly welcoming bantings (suggesting thoughtful arrangements), and the complementary (turquoise and brown) and conflicting (brown and dark blue) colours combine to deliver an incongruent atmosphere but rich cultural messages in the final image.
The messages are:
- According to an old professor, in the early days of the communist rule, dogs were purged in Beijing. Kids in those years had no physial reference for the word "dog". They even pointed to the picture of a tiger when asked to spy a dog.
- Nowadays, dogs are of course allowed as pets in China. Some ten years ago, there were Hongkongers who lived in government housing made a fortune by breeding and selling to rich Mainland Chinese what were claimed to be pedigree dogs. Among the dogs were chiwawas. Can the spotting of a chiwawa walking on a dirty street epitomise the rags-to-riches stories in the booming China?
- It is not foolhardy to venture that the construction site behind the well-placed hoarding is as messy as can be. As a rule of thumb, in China, things may look good on the outside but the inside may gives one a nightmarish experience.
- While big Chinese cities like Beijing are undergoing stupendously fast-paced modern developments, there are tons of practices inconsisitent with the societies of modern times. Take for example arranging business meetings with counterparts in China. One should mark that no appointments are definite until the last minute when the meeting can actually be cancelled without prior notice. This may be more true in Northern China where the people are known to be magniloquent in promises.
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