High speed train attendants receive training in Chongqing
Rare rainbow clouds seen in Fujian
Small bracelet going global
Aerial Photography: Amazing Tianshan Mountains
'Animals' in 2014 World Cup
Not afraid of death
Chen Guangbiao ads on A15 of NYT to host charity luncheon for 1,000 poor and destitute Americans
Passionate bar babies and fans feel the charm of World Cup 2014
US aircraft carrier docks in HK, welcomes PLA aboard
Graduation season: 'Take graduation photos to mark our love'
Li Feng / China Daily
LSD. Upside-down pentagrams. The Playboy Bunny. These are symbols I've encountered in Beijing in the past week.
What's weird is, this didn't seem weird.
After years in China, I take for granted that locals who display such symbols that are provocative in the West usually have little inkling how they may be interpreted by other cultures. They often don't know the meanings at all.
And this happens the other direction, too.
I've gotten used to conservative "grannies" wearing shirts that read, in English: "Everything's better on acid."
While this woman's shirt suggests all experiences would be more pleasurable if enhanced by the psychedelic drug, she almost certainly has no idea what LSD is.
And if she did, she'd probably be the last person to take it. Or wear the shirt.
Take, for instance, our nanny-a typical Beijing native in her 50s, who sometimes shows up in a shirt printed with satanic symbols.
She simply doesn't know what upside-down crosses, inverted pentagrams and goats' heads mean-and that her shirt reveres the deification of evil.
She's certainly no devil worshiper.
It's against our parenting philosophy to leave our daughter in Satanists' care.
But our nanny isn't demonic. Actually, she's angelic to our girl.
She simply has no clue one of her shirts exalts evil's premium incarnation in other cultures.
![]() |
Silk Road, China's Grand Canal listed as World Heritage Sites
Chinese 'Slumdog Millionaire'
PKU students imitate famous paintings in real-person photos
Stewardesses in Brazilian soccer jerseys
Puzhehei: land of idyllic beauty
Chinese navy fleet visits Cape Town, South Africa
PLA naval cadets toss their hats at graduation ceremony
Graduation photo ideas: reliable alumnus and happy alumna
Super daddies in 2014 World Cup
Islands in S. China Sea better shown on new vertical atlas of China
Girl takes father’s portrait to travel the world
Images of Xi'an: Part one
In Pictures: Female fans of World Cup
Top 20 hottest women in the world in 2014
China's top 10 representative architecturesDay|Week|Month