TOURIST ATTRACTION

Not only am I a tourist in China, but I'm also an occasional tourist attraction. It could be that 'goofy looking white dude' is on some sort of List of Things to Photograph While on Vacation, but whatever the reason, I've made my way into a multitude of Chinese photo albums. It was pretty sporadic early on, a few people here and there would politely stop me and ask for a photo together, but the first time it got a little silly was in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park. Don't let the unpeopled photos I posted fool you, behind me were hoards of other tourists all vying for the same shot, and on more than one occasion I got caught up in the mix. It was like a domino effect, once somebody would ask to take a photo with me, every other passerby would want their turn, and all of a sudden I'd be backed up against the railing with a mindless grin on my face, waiting for the next tourist to nestle up to me and flash a peace sign for the camera. It happened quite a bit in Fenghuang as well. Once while I sitting by the river eating a snack, a guy quickly sat down and put him his arm around me. Before I knew what was happening his friend had snapped a photo and they were on their way. I'm sure that one turned out great considering I had a mouthful of dumpling and a confused look on my face. And never mind the countless people I've caught out of the corner of my eye, discreetly trying to snap photos of me on their cell phones. Little did they know that I was also discreetly striking a pose. Occasionally I like to hold the pose for a few seconds, and then quickly jerk my head around and stare straight into the camera, giving them a quirky little smirk with one eyebrow raised that forces them to awkwardly shift their focus on whatever uninteresting thing I happen to be standing next to. Anyways, on the boat ride down the Li River I finally got someone to use my camera for one of these photo shoots, unfortunately I think he caught me telling him that he might need to switch to autofocus. It turned out ok, although apparently I missed the memo to wear red that day.