Everything in the image helps tell the story of man selling kites on the bridge over Kunming Lake in the huge park surrounding Beijing’s Summer Palace. His expression is intense – he looks skyward. We don’t see the kite he is flying, but we see another one in his hand and others just like it at his feet. We know that he is not just a recreational kite flyer – he sells these kites, and demonstration is his most effective selling tool. The kites at his feet are not for him. They are for us. We even know that he is at an imperial palace – the lion on the post behind him is the imperial symbol. Even the artwork on the kites themselves tell a story – the graceful woman emblazoned on them recalls a time when a chair carrying the Empress of China was borne across this very bridge.