Day 10, Shenzhen & Guandong China

Reading Gibberish
So, it was one of my trip goals to buy some clothing in china. But not just any clothing; I wanted clothes with English writing on them with really bad translations. Just like all the people in America who have the tattoos of Chinese characters that they have no idea what they mean. The Chinese people might buy a shirt with English on it because it looks cool but not realize it says something stupid or bogus.

Goal complete! The first store I went into, I found a shirt with tons of English writing on it…almost all of it makes no sense at all. AWESOME! Haha. I guess that’s just my sense of humor.

Even As Your Stronger Is...

I Saw The Sign

This is a joke waiting to happen…but I don’t know it yet…10 points for the best joke about this sign.

Long Division
As I have said before, China is a bunch of contradictions; it’s money loving, and Communist. It’s both modern and ancient. Here is an illustration of the two clashing worlds, the old and the new the rich and the poor.

Division of the rich and the poor

Traditions
Every Wednesdays there is a Chinese tradition that was started in…the Ming Dynasty, I believe…of playing basketball after work. And so, just as Attila the Hun, and Confucius did so many years before, we donned our polyester mesh shorts and jerseys, and took to the court. Today’s game was the Golf / Bose team versus Motorola. “Bring it on Phone boys, or should I say phony boys?!”
Just like the Viscous Conquerors versus the Peaceful Philosophers in the days of lore, sweat poured from each of us in the humid, warm weather. Muscles strained, the crowed cheered, amazing three-pointer shots were made and eventually, tears flowed. The blood of the weak covered the court and the reveling of the victors could be heard for miles. And if you listen hard and the wind is blowing in from the East in just the right way, you can still hear the old masters talking smack, “Confucius say, you are suck!”

Norvin takes a shot...

The Chinese drive down court.

This is why we say Bryson is in the NBA.

I'm in this one...waiting for the jump ball to come my way. Notice the Referee. The Chinese take everything seriously.

Bryson teaching the Chinese how to jump. Notice we actually have a bit of a crowd watching us!

I learned a new word today. It is awesome. Now I can just point at something and not know what the hell it is really called and still have someone understand me.

Today’s word: zhèige

Translation: this

When writing, pinyin “zh” makes a “j” sound and an “e” at the end of the word makes an “uh” sound. So basically, it is pronounced “jigga.” Who would have thought Jay-Z was speaking Chinese? “Jigga WHAT?!”