She is using an abacus to figure the numbers for her notes. You see an enamelware cup like the one here.
The slogan on the boat is, 为人民服务 “Service to the People.” There is an ethnic Korean woman with a bundle on her head in the lower right corner in traditional Korean clothing. Songhua Lake is located in Jilin province, which neighbors North Korea.
Celebrating “Spring Festival,” also known as the Lunar New Year. The Yi people are from the south of China and the Mongolians are from the north. The soldier on the right is putting up “对联” (duì lián), a pair of calligraphy strips put at the…
Bringing “Western” medicine to the Tibetans. Traditionally the Chinese have four major types of medicine, Han Chinese, Tibetan, Mongolian, and Western. The Han, Tibetan, and Mongolian medicines are herbal-based. Today, these four types of medicine are used according to individual preferences or needs. Western medicine…
Buddhist calligraphy creating the image of Bodhidharma using the characters, 佛 (Buddha), and 心 (heart). The four large characters at the top 仁心善行 mean, “Act with benevolence and kindness.”
This dragon character is an abstraction of the classical character, 龍 (pr. lóng). You can see other examples here.
A traditional style scroll with the character “禅“ (pr. chán) Zen embroidered on it.
The calligraphy in the outside top right corner is the name of the painting. The inside is the date, 1977, and location, Beijing. The two red “chops” are the artist’s signature.