This girl caught me in the act, and clearly does not look too pleased at being captured in her role as a human signpost. The sign was pointing towards a shoe shop in a narrow alley off the main shopping street.

In an interview with an American sinologist, about the 60th anniversary celebrations in China, about I came across some comments that I find interesting in relation to the above mentioned observation:

“The Western eye might see the slogans as blatant propaganda, but (…) the Chinese see it more like an advertisement.”

“Propaganda is simply making the case for the kind of product you have to sell — whether it’s a candidate or it’s a policy, or whether it’s something to buy”

“Thirty years ago, the party’s message might have been the only one to see on the streets of China’s cities. But now, (…) “these slogans [party slogans] have to compete with actual advertisements for products.”

The whole interview can be found at:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113469963&ps=cprs