Was browsing my album for 九寨沟 and these faces captivated me yet again. They are kids from the Sichuan highland fairyland that tourists from hectic cities escape to for a breather, a bit of R&R. Despite the tourist dollars, this is really one of the remotest parts of China and living standards are well, way below that of the megalopolises of Shanghai or Beijing.
Yet, the people here are the loveliest. The kids, at least, are the most innocent, most optimistic. The faces that know no stress nor woes of the world. The faces brimming with gullible but blissful happiness. Such is the expression that I would rather wear in the place of a mask that has become a necessity to navigate this superficial world with its superfluous people.
Pooh Bear and Snoopy t-shirts. Based on my readings on rural China, the kids have no idea what the characters on their shirts are cuz they have no access to international TV to be acquainted with Winnie the Pooh and the Hundred Acre Wood or Christopher Robin and Charlie Brown. The t-shirts that bear these characters are just some in a few million that come off the tireless production lines of countless Chinese factories responsible for the healthy double-digit GDP growth of this giant economy.
