Oh, Lanzhou, would you let me be your spellchecker?! I read recently that in Beijing there is an effort under way to correct all the silly English signs in time for the Olympics – such as the multi-cultural monument that is labeled, "Racist Park." Here in Gansu province, I’m simply surprised at how much public English there is. The better buses – the ones with automated announcements of the stops – give the info in both Chinese and English. And many commercial signs offer both languages. The quirkiness of the signs is great fun. Errors are of two predictable types: mis-spelling and skewed translation. In the latter category, I recently heard a student performer introduced, and we were told he would play "the oral organ." The student came on stage and played the harmonica – very well, I might add. Similarly, there’s the boutique I have walked past it a few times, perplexed. Today I finally decided that "lie fallow" is an attempt at "leisure." Sport and Leisure. Right? As for "The King of Beef Noodies," (is "noodies" clear in the photo?) it’s actually a chain of noodle shops, and all the signs are alike.



















There are amusing contrasts everywhere, daily. Yesterday I looked out the window and noticed that there was a traffic jam, but it didn't seem to faze the street sweepers, who were busy making new brooms for themselves.






























There are diapers for babies now in the eastern cities, but I haven't seen any here. The little ones still wear the traditional split pants . . . brrrr!