evidence that the chalk artists are well and working hard

After hearing from several commenters on my previous earthquake posts that there is a group of Americans here in Xi'an right now doing chalk art, I set out on a mission to find them. It was a pretty easy mission, since I got a comment telling me exactly where they were and it was the first place I was planning to check anyways.

So I showed up at Ginwa Plaza in the middle of the afternoon, found the chalk artists hard at work on their drawings, and interrupted them to tell them that I, Random Stranger, had received worried messages on my blog from some of their people back home. The delighted shock on Cyndi's face honestly made me tear up a little, but I'm excessively empathetic.

Paul, Marie, and Brenda: I spoke with Cyndi and Lori, and can now offer authoritative proof that they are alive and well after the earthquake:

Cyndi with her Superman-in-progress

Lori Escalera and her 3D Monkey King

There were lots of people crowding around watching the work in progress.
(That brown building in the background is actually a Starbucks, so I imagine they had no trouble finding coffee after the 4 am aftershock evacuation.)

The chalk art is being commissioned by Century Ginwa Shopping Center to celebrate their 10th anniversary. I'm looking forward to going back later in the week and seeing what the finished product looks like. And it sounds like the chalk artists have had pretty limited communication with the outside world, so I was more than happy to be a go-between. There are few better things in this world than meeting friendly people and making their days a little brighter.