Beauty in Everything

This is my friend, Kevin.

He is a fellow teacher in Huangshi. These are his pictures. I discovered recently all of his beautiful pictures from his adventures in China. I especially love the ones of our city. He has a knack for capturing the beauty in his surroundings. I really feel like his pictures show all of the different aspects of life in Huangshi - the beauty, simplicity, chaos, craziness, multitudes of people, culture, and so much more. China is a much dirtier place than America. There are piles of trash and at first glance everything seems to be falling apart. Yet, somehow, all I see is beauty when I look at these photos.  Kevin is allowing me to share them on my blog so I hope you enjoy them!

This is downtown Huangshi, near my apartment.

Common alleyways.

This is how we get water delivered to our apartment. It is not safe to drink tap water.

This is my favorite.

I see this every single day. Men and women are always sitting on the streets at tiny tables gambling and playing mahjong.

This seems safe.

Baby stroller

Sleeping grandpas

Market

Market

How many people can you fit on a moped? You'd be surprised!

Winter

Huangshi is on the river. I live right next to it but hardly ever see it because of all the buildings that block it.

Lets get some shoes!

I've enjoyed seeing all of the different fashion and styles here in China the past year and a half. I've even noticed a few trends start here before they became popular back home. Although, they do have trends, I've been impressed and liked the way a lot of people here have their own unique style. People wear whatever they want, which makes for some interesting sights to see while walking around the city!

In the past couple of months, I decided to take pictures of some of the more "creative" shoes that I've seen at stores and shopping malls here. This is just a small sample of the interesting shoes that you could buy and wear here in China!

Snakeskin, buckles, and fur! When it comes to women's fashion in China, more is better! 

They love a good rhinestone and platform heel!

These could double as tap shoes?!?!

This was probably the most popular new trend of the winter season!

The pink part is furry! Oh yes!

These are an obvious staple for every girl...they would go with so much!

Glittery!

These kind of freak me out because it looks like hair!

Very furry flats! They are probably comfortable and warm, though!

There are no words...

Rhinestone reindeer, the perfect boots for a snowy Christmas! 

Or maybe you prefer rhinestone cats!

Don't worry, there is a reindeer handbag to go with those boots!

I honestly don't know. But, if you look closely, there is a miniature spoon and fork coming off of this classy clutch.

This post started out only as pictures of funny shoes, but the purses were too good not to share. And then, I spotted this shirt! The picture doesn't do it justice, but those are an array of colorful beads circling the angel.

I truly do like a lot of the fashion here and it is a bit different from that of America. I just thought all of you back home might enjoy seeing some of the more outrageous items for sale here!