Paper (This week's Photo Hunt theme)

In my Photo Hunt entry last week, I wrote that plastic seems to be everywhere we look (and photograph). While this may be true, even a cursory survey got me realizing that I nonetheless turn out to have more photos of paper products and items in my digital photo collection. And so much so that it took some discipline to not go overboard with this particular entry! ;S

Instead, I'm just putting up three pictures for people to have a look at: with the top-most photograph being a close-up shot of some of what's on sale at the type of mini open-air newspaper and magazine shop, pictured in the middle photograph, that can be found on many a busy street over here in Hong Kong; and the bottom-most picture being of one of the more traditional of Hong Kong's shops -- that which sells joss sticks throughout the year but, during the days leading up to that festive time of the year variously known as the Mid-Autumn, Mooncake and Lantern Festival, also takes to offering up some paper lanterns for sale.

On a trivia note: Something which I've found to be an amusing as well as endearing commercial practice over here in Hong Kong is that when you buy a newspaper from a set-up like in picture number two, you almost invariably will be given a free mini-packet of tissue paper to go with your purchase. Consequently, I have accumulated quite the stock of these mini-packets and don't think that I will ever have to buy tissue paper again for as long as I am resident in this part of the world!

On a cultural note: When I was young, I read a charming Chinese story about a father with two daughters who, one day, bade one daughter to present to him wind in a piece of paper and the other to give him fire in a piece of a paper. After giving these tasks much thought, the former cleverly realized that she could do so in the form of a fan while the latter fulfilled her father's request by presenting him with... what else but a lantern! :)