Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Chinatown Souvenirs

These little statues of Buddha are some of the souvenirs that are commonly sold in Chinatown. Other popular souvenirs include I NYC t-shirts, key chains and baseball caps.

What souvenirs do you usually buy when you visit a new city?

18 comments:

Annie said...

Now there's a question to ponder. I guess I usually buy a postcard or several of them - but then I usually also send them off to friends and family. So they don't really serve as souvenirs for me, do they.

teahouse said...

Hahaha, I can't help but grin when I see a smiling Buddha.

I've been to a bakery in Chinatown that sells Buddha cookies. Pretty funny.

Bel said...

Have to agree with teahouse....happy Buddha always makes me smile too.

I bought a miniature Mao's Little Red Book from a market in Beijing a couple years ago.... a cool and kitsch souvenir at the time, but no idea where it's ended up! Obviously money well spent ;o)

Olivier said...

c'est marrant, j'ai fait la meme photo, mais avec des tonnes de petites statues de la liberte ;o)
ne pas oublier, en effet le t-shirt "I Love NY" (et puis c'est tellement vrai)

it is funny, I made the same photograph, but with tons of small statues of freedom; O) not to forget, indeed the tee-shirt “I Coils NY” (and then it is so true)

alice said...

In NYC, i brought tons of wonderful stationery in Soho and little toys for my kids (they are not kids anymore, time flies!)in this huge place faces Plazza, I can't write the name correctly (Schfartz?).

alice said...

"I bought", sorry.

Fabrizio Zanelli said...

Uhmm let me think... Ah, in NYC at Tiffany I bought some jewels -- Oh well this is true because there, as you know, it's also possible to buy simple jewels with just few "bulks" (money).

P.S. Please don't laugh. When I was teenager and my first time in Paris... I bought a Perrier (bottle of sparkling water). LoL.

kuanyin333 said...

These Happy Buddhas bring good luck if you place them in the North part of your home!

Anonymous said...

I like these and your photograph shows them off.

Abraham Lincoln
Brookville Daily Photo

stilettoheights said...

Does a hangover count???? What about purses out of the trunk of someone's car?

I usually don't buy anything too touristy...the occasional postcard, and I grab brochures from everywhere.

Bob Crowe said...

Hi, Mink. The thing that makes this picture is the three contrasting color zones and the limited depth of field, focusing on the middle group. Very visually interesting.

Have you ever seen the well-know photo called 1,000 Buddhas by Hiroshi Sugimoto? Click his link on my blog and you should find it.

Bob

St. Louis Missouri Daily Photo Blog

Unknown said...

you love eating, do you have the buddha figure? haha...

just joking :-p

Z said...

Like Annie, I go for postcards. Pretty postcards, not the usual crowd pleasers. I'm very particular about the ones I keep. In Switzerland, I've been hunting down postcards that are reproductions of old postcards from the place I'm visiting at the time. I have quite a set, but am missing many towns/cities I've been to.

What about you?

Anonymous said...

Supposed to touch the "belly" of the buddha right? For good luck or something?

I used to buy souvenirs for friends when I go travel last time - T-shirts, keychains, book marks, fridge magnets. But nowadays, I seldom do it because I think most of them are well-traveled, unless the souvenir is something unique. But something unique, I would not buy it for all my friends too. Probably just to a good friend, maybe.

I don't even buy souvenirs for my family when I go travel. I just bring back food items - chocolates, nuts, dried fruits.

blueboat said...

Well it depends, if I'm in France or Italy I head straight to a good supermarket to stock up on local produce. In Greece, local olive oil. I brought a little Empire State Building from the shop at the top of the Empire State Building when I was in New York!

Dsole said...

I think i'm not original.. so my souvenir are lots of postcards! I usually pick at least 10 postcards (only for me!) and a bunch for sending to my friends ;)

Anonymous said...

I learn your comments for many people and He have got a Buddha cookies it's so funny. I love this tee-shirt

Oh for the love of food! said...

Hey, Ming, I love to travel but have never gotten any souvenirs only because they are usually very 'or- biang', and I wouldn't know where to put them.