“Living In China I See The Most Ridiculous Things, Like These People Who Have No Idea What They’re Wearing” (30 New Pics)
What can you say about a city with 24 million people? Nothing really, it’s too big and there are too many stories to tell. But photos can help explain the weird, wild and wonderful metropolis on occasion, especially ones that obliterate the already thin margins of personal space that locals here offer up. Engrish shirts, entire families on a single scooter, the weary, the excited, the startling circumstances that defy explanation. There’s no commentary or opinion involved, just Shanghai and its people… observed.
Alex Greenberg is the man behind the account, an American who moved to the massive metropolis of Shanghai some years ago and fell in love with it. Overwhelmed by the sheer number of stories that can be told in such a vast city, he decided to start a website where he could document the quirks and oddities of everyday life there, which he called Shanghai Observed. The page now has nearly 70k followers, and people can't get enough of his shrewd street fashion sightings. Scroll down to check some of our faves out for yourself, and learn more about Alex's project!
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As China's economy and influence around the world continue to grow, we in Western countries will gradually acquaint ourselves better with the language, culture and way of life of this vast and ancient civilization. As anyone who has ever been to China before will tell you, it really is an exciting, diverse and unique country!
Alex Greenberg moved to the massive metropolis of Shanghai some years ago and fell in love with it. Inspired by the many bizarre things he encountered every day, particularly the weird and wonderfully funny translations found on people's clothing, he decided to start a website where he could document the quirks and oddities of everyday life in the city, which he called Shanghai Observed.
Living in such a different and interesting place means that he is never short of funny fashion material, and he finds himself confronted with all kinds of surprises every single day. "I’ve been in Shanghai for 4 years and I love how fast the city moves," Alex told Bored Panda.
Low key she definitely knows exactly what her shirt is staying and she won't hesitate to start naming names!
"Shanghai has a great skate scene which is what drove me to move here in the first place. It's an amazing city to explore and stumble across startled circumstances that defy explanation."
"I started the account in November 2016. I made the account because I had just gotten a new iPhone 7, and it took surprisingly great photos. I also wanted to start a daily photo project. The daily photo project was focused on forcing me to shoot more street photography and shoot photos that would show daily life in Shanghai. Stuff my friends and family would be interested in seeing."
"When the account started to grow and I gained a following I started to get submissions from other people at that point I began to post only the best of the best. The types of situations I like to share are ones that make you double take or say 'wtf.' One of the most common things I post on my Instagram is people wearing shirts that say ridiculous things on them."
Well, this looks caring to me actually. Obviously, the small one was cold and a creative solution was needed.
Alternatively the child could be like my granddaughter who likes to wear our coats. I think it's called being a bit silly... IMG_0851-5...c-jpeg.jpg 
Just imagine that lil thing randomly starts chasing after you! Lmaoo
My little one was dressed like this too at the zoo. We were out and it was supposed to be warm. However, she was cold. I went to the gift shop to buy a sweatshirt or something her size. All they had were adult size hoodies. So my daughter has a hoodie she'll grow into and it kept her warm that day.
It happens - once I stepped in a puddle and ended up wearing my dad's gloves as shoes.
Warm, and it continues to work years later! This is the greatest discovery of our century!!
As an American adopter of a Chinese child, I can testify that Chinese culture is all about overheating the little ones with 12 layers of clothes. We were chastised if we didn't put a hat on my daughter when it was like 70 degrees. And she came to us in 3 layers of quilted footie pajamas and she was red faced and sweating. It's their thing.
OK, I've seen some hand-me- downs that seemed a little sad, but...she'll grow into it.
How sad, tiny little person with no legs and really long arms. This one made me laugh out loud.
Dangerous. If the baby falls over he can’t protect himself with his hands inside.
One of those Chinese-people things where they make sure the clothes they buy for their kids are two sizes too big so they can save money on clothes for the next four years while the kids grow into them. Except they overdid it in this case. The kid won't need new clothes for the next twenty years.
"I'm guessing 99% of the time these people have no idea what the funny t-shirt says because they don’t speak English. This makes for an amazing photo because you often see a great juxtaposition between what the person's face says, and what the shirt says. I love hilarious photos and videos that instantly make you laugh or question what is happening. Shanghai seems to share that every day."
My god! the overwhelming need for me to see what those look like from the front is almost killing me!
Many people have speculated where the weird shirts and fashion sense comes from, and whether those wearing them actually know what they mean. Over 10 million people in China speak English fluently, however out of a population of more than 1.3 billion, that's fewer than 1 in 100 people. We will let you decide!
As a follow up to a previous post that Alex uploaded on Bored Panda, we decided to present some more Shanghai strangeness for your viewing pleasure. And although Alex is busy observing Shanghai, he still manages to keep an eye on his homeland too through his hilarious sister account, America Observed. Check it out!
He is Yoo Byung Jae, a korean entertainer. These are his merchandise, he previously had phone cases with his face on https://www.redbubble.com/shop/yoo+byung+jae+iphone-cases?ref=work_taglist
My "full of regret, why do I do this to myself every Sunday" shirt
Go to Shanghaiobserved.com ! Can buy one of them right now :)
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What's in all the mature content printed on kids clothes? If they just use random words in English to make it looks cool, how come most of them are related to alcohol, sex and drugs? I remember bought imported toy from china for my kid and when we turned it on we heard the song that say "what the f*uck babe" over and over again. It's not funny at all :(
You're right. It's not funny, it's f*****g hilarious!
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heard on the radio once about how people get tattoos with Chinese characters which mean something completely different, they were wondering if the reverse was true... I submit this article(?) as proof!
Reminds me of a shirt I found online " MY BODY IS DEVINE! unfortunately it's Buddha"
My surprise isn't the wording, it's that so many Chinese are wearing English language shirts!?
I spent a month in Beijing and this is pretty normal. A car window sticker, instead of "Baby in Car" boldly stated: "Baby on Road".
As has been well circulated recently, Ariana Grande has a new one in Japanese that was supposed to refer to 7 Rings but instead says "Hibachi Grill." That said, it makes sense most of these are real.
Don't forget all the occidental people who wear Chinese symbols with no idea what they mean! They could be just as tasteless
When you live in a country of 2 billion plus people, anything you make and sell is bound to make an awful lot of money! Someone...no, a million people will probably buy your peoduct!
I like to think that somewhere on the Chinese internet there is a post entitled 'Living In Europe I See The Most Ridiculous Things, Like These People Who Have No Idea What Their Tattoo says”. And then photo's of hipster kids with 'Chicken Chow Mein' tattooed on their backs...
If these people don't know what the shirts say, then the shirts are like those popular, supposedly meaningful Chinese lettering tattoos people wear here (that really say "Kick me!") -- except they don't need to laser them off.
Wondering what company distributes these. And why would you wear a tee with no idea what it says...and photoshop....I call BS.
You don't know much about Chinese history then! The place has a lot of s**t now, mostly due to their government, but as far back as ancient China, they were known for inventing things like paper, printing compasses, and gunpowder.
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Go to Shanghaiobserved.com ! Can buy one of them right now :)
Load More Replies... What's in all the mature content printed on kids clothes? If they just use random words in English to make it looks cool, how come most of them are related to alcohol, sex and drugs? I remember bought imported toy from china for my kid and when we turned it on we heard the song that say "what the f*uck babe" over and over again. It's not funny at all :(
You're right. It's not funny, it's f*****g hilarious!
Load More Replies... heard on the radio once about how people get tattoos with Chinese characters which mean something completely different, they were wondering if the reverse was true... I submit this article(?) as proof!
Reminds me of a shirt I found online " MY BODY IS DEVINE! unfortunately it's Buddha"
My surprise isn't the wording, it's that so many Chinese are wearing English language shirts!?
I spent a month in Beijing and this is pretty normal. A car window sticker, instead of "Baby in Car" boldly stated: "Baby on Road".
As has been well circulated recently, Ariana Grande has a new one in Japanese that was supposed to refer to 7 Rings but instead says "Hibachi Grill." That said, it makes sense most of these are real.
Don't forget all the occidental people who wear Chinese symbols with no idea what they mean! They could be just as tasteless
When you live in a country of 2 billion plus people, anything you make and sell is bound to make an awful lot of money! Someone...no, a million people will probably buy your peoduct!
I like to think that somewhere on the Chinese internet there is a post entitled 'Living In Europe I See The Most Ridiculous Things, Like These People Who Have No Idea What Their Tattoo says”. And then photo's of hipster kids with 'Chicken Chow Mein' tattooed on their backs...
If these people don't know what the shirts say, then the shirts are like those popular, supposedly meaningful Chinese lettering tattoos people wear here (that really say "Kick me!") -- except they don't need to laser them off.
Wondering what company distributes these. And why would you wear a tee with no idea what it says...and photoshop....I call BS.
You don't know much about Chinese history then! The place has a lot of s**t now, mostly due to their government, but as far back as ancient China, they were known for inventing things like paper, printing compasses, and gunpowder.
Load More Replies...