Books on Xi's Shelf

beijingchannel.substack.com

6 pointsipnon3 comments

If anything could be taken from those book shelves it's that Xi is one very vain individual despite his pretensions of being personally modest.

Does any normal person fill their own bookshelf with dozens of photos of themselves looking back at themselves? Family? Children? Close friends in group photos? Pets even! Those seem much more fitting for an individual who isn't absolutely full of their own ego.

I don't know. It seems to be a Chinese thing that placing photos on bookshelves. I have to admit, I have seen similar setting on the bookshelf of my friend's dad, he is an artist (calligraphy, drawings). Not many Chinese hang photos on the wall as American do. Just to answer questions about the photos.

Maybe the pictures are selected as mementos of the events. I suspect if you have to rely on the photos available through the state sources and news media, most of them will have his face in them.

It's probably a social faux pas to arrive at the G20, whip out a Nikon or a selfie-stick, and ask all the other presidents and prime ministers to get into frame and say "Cheese".

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