Behind the Scenes

Our other stop on Saturday in Nanjing was an outdoor amphitheatre-- the likes of which I had never seen before in China. The stone stage sat before a grassy seating area designed to resemble a paper fan. The whole place was overrun with white pigeons, which could've passed for doves in my book, and which were slaves for birdfood sold to the visitors to the amphitheatre.

More peculiar was what I found behind the stage, between the stone back of the amphitheatre and the woods beyond. Much to my surprise, a little boy, who may well have lived in one of the tiny apartments under the theatre, pulled a puppy out of a styrofoam cooler by the stairs. Pictured is the boy with the tortured, freezing dog. The Chinese have an odd relationship to animals, one that is not entirely friendly. If you haven't heard the story about the kitten that got thrown in the river, you should ask me about that one sometime.