The plaque at the art gallery explains that this is a statue of Chairman Mao directing morning calisthenics — apparently an important part of growing up in China for the artist. Did the chairman really direct them himself? Surely it’s metaphor.
Anyway, a few hours later I came across an after-work, open-air aerobics class going on downtown.
And in between I ate lunch in the most sanitary, efficiently-run restaurant I’ve ever seen. A branch of a Taiwanese chain, apparently. There must’ve been about 20 dumpling and noodle makers all going at once, and even some of the servers wore those weird surgical masks.
