Even if you don't read Chinese, you can spot a familiar face on the first signboard. This depiction of the sun, a circle surrounded by radiating lines, is so widely understood that even a half-circle, as on the second signboard, can suffice.
In context, the second sign clearly shows a sunrise and not a sunset. I can't pin down why that's equally apparent for the first sign, which advertises a modestly appointed Dongbei (Northeast Chinese) restaurant. Perhaps it's the smile. I needed a moment to identify the stylized characters that follow: 早点, "zǎodiǎn," "breakfast."
Note also that this photo illustrates one peril of insufficient morning coffee: an inadvertent waist-down self-portrait.
Rise-and-shine signboards
First photo: Tieling Restaurant
46-24 Kissena Blvd. (Juniper-Kalmia Aves.), Flushing, Queens
347-732-4199
www.TielingFlushing.com
Second photo: Tiny's
135 West Broadway (Thomas-Duane Sts.), Manhattan
212-374-1135
www.TinysNYC.com
