Once again I had a
chance to visit Tianjin again. This time round, due to a good day,
knocked off a little early. Got back to my hotel and got the stuff
that I need - for my street shoot. This trip, I got a chance to carry
along with me a HP Photosmart M427 (beta Unit). A simple point and shoot digital camera.
Fixed focus. Yes...no AF!!! With the camera in hand I quickly hurried to one
of the little back-street market here in Tianjin City.
It was about
close to 6pm and the crowd has just beginning to flood the back streets.
Looks like back-street & hawker alleys are the way to go for the general
public here. Push carts hawkers and makeshift dining space could be
seen appearing here.
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Here is what the
intersection looked like with passer-by taking short cuts through the back
streets away from the dusty and noisy main roads. Soon, this once
quiet street in the hot afternoon sun now starting to regain its evening
shine. The street soon got busy with those on foot and also those
cycling. The growing crowd were mainly made up of working middle age
people. And probably some housewives who are here on budget shopping.
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In the mouth of the
night market, I was greeted by this little "satay" stall - selling barbecued
meat on skewers. Apparently, realized that these men are actually
Local Muslims from Xinjiang. The aroma of the freshly barbecues meat lingers
through the air. Well, many stalls here sells barbecue stuff and you
get free barbecue perfume that you can take along with you when you get back
to your hotel....hahaha!!! I really meant it - it sticks to your
clothes.
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Although the condition
of the back streets may not be that great but the people, they are very
friendly and nice. Occasionally you have people staring blankly at you
and they respond with their friendly smile almost instantaneously when you
smile at them. Being one of the older city, you can see quite a number
of well-dressed senior citizens around in the streets.
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I was kind of hungry
while I was there and had a chance to stop by the "satay" seller.
Wanting to just get some light stuff to munch, i got myself a large
pizza-base like bread. The seller was nice enough to reheat the bread
over the barbecue pit. The barbecue pit looks very different form what
we have back home in Singapore - which are usually shallow and short.
Those you find here in the night markets are huge and long. Good for
mass "barbecue" maybe?
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Here is the photo of
the bread I bought. Only if i have a microwave oven and some
cheese...I would probably be having pizza for the rest of my stay here.
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Above is one of the
standing-while-you-eat type of stalls. You probably need to pick your
choice and then the hawker will prepare the food right in front of you.
As water is not readily available here, they actually served food on
"plastic-wrapped" bowls and plates. They wrap the bowls with plastic
bags, pour your dish on them and then you eat from it. When you're
done, they simply pull out the plastic bag form the bowl and then them away
- replacing the used bad with a new one. What do you think? Better
than those flimsy disposables?...
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I stopped over at a
fruit seller stall and got myself some longans. They were really
sweet!!!. Well...look at the man smiling wide...!! He probably have
day-light robbed me by charging a premium on just a small basket of longans.
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Apart from fruits and
clothing, guess what? Animals for sale!!! Pet animals like little dogs
and rabbits can be found in the inner part of this market area. There
are also some stalls selling sun-dried stuff like dates, lemon peel and
plums. Al i can say is that this back street market has it all - like what
you can find in large supermarket like KMART and Walmart.
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| Like all the traders
here, you could find many of them using traditional weighing scale.
These were standard measures used in the markets in Singapore too in the
past. This man was shy when i took out the camera form my pocket.
Well, after some coaxing....he just smiled and stayed still for a few
seconds.... |
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I find it really an
"international" thingy to find some men just lazing around and watching the
day pass by or playing a game of Chinese chess - while the ladies are
manning the stalls and the shops around the area.
The crowd was slowly creeping into the area and soon the sun went down and
the place gets really busy. I started to feel tired after the short
stroll through the street and then decided to head back to my hotel.
Hope this little series of photos have helped you catch a glimpse of the
back street market here in Tianjin. Due to the urbanization projects
going on in preparation for the Olympics 2008 in Beijing many of the
old squatters and back street markets in the heart of the City area have
been cleaned up. |