Tag Archives: China

Traditional Chinese Dress in the Forbidden City, Beijing, China

Posted on October 2nd, 2014 by

People on Vacation

I almost never include people in my photos. I tend to focus on the history of a place, it’s details and what it feels like, but I generally exclude people. I couldn’t help myself on this one. This girl was having a really fun time playing dress-up in The Forbidden City costume shop, and got completely decked out in a traditional costume. She only posed for a second, but I caught the most wonderful hand gesture she made while in full regalia.

Traditional Chinese Dress in the Forbidden City, Beijing, China
Traditional Chinese Dress in the Forbidden City, Beijing, China

Photo Technical Info

  • Aperture: ƒ/4
  • Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
  • Taken: 21 September, 2014
  • Focal length: 35mm
  • ISO: 100
  • Location: 39° 55.0093′ 0″ N 116° 23.3948′ 0″ E
  • Shutter speed: 1/640s
  • Title: Traditional Chinese Dress in the Forbidden City, Beijing, China

Door Latch in The Forbidden City, Beijing, China

Posted on September 29th, 2014 by

What to Say about China

China is difficult to describe to those who haven’t been. I have a bit of trouble describing it to myself and I have been many times now. It is a vibrant place…there is an energy there and you immediately feel you are where IT is happening RIGHT NOW. I spent my time visiting the ancient sites (some of them) in Beijing. This is a latch on a door screen leading to one of the buildings inside The Forbidden City. The entire site is very well preserved with many of the buildings undergoing restoration currently (and I think continuously). Much as modern construction moves forward, so to does it allow the Chinese to remember their heritage.

Door Latch in The Forbidden City, Beijing, China
Door Latch in The Forbidden City, Beijing, China

Photo Technical Info

Jumbled Buildings in Hong Kong

Posted on July 17th, 2014 by

So Much Going On

Big cities are always interesting to my small town mind. I grew up in a city of less that 7000 people and when I look back I longed for the “Bright Lights of THE Big City”. I remember collecting maps from National Geographic magazine. Those maps were the only part I recall looking at and I would pour over the details of the Amazon or some medieval European city. We didn’t travel much as a family, for one reason or another, which might well explain my life-long fascination with travel. As a child, travel seemed a magical journey, fought with excitement, and peril. As an adult, I can’t say much has changed in those old attitudes, but one thing I do know…THE Big City is an exciting place to see.

Jumbled Buildings in Hong Kong
Jumbled Buildings in Hong Kong

Photo Technical Info

Iron Panda

Posted on June 12th, 2014 by

I Went to the Mall in Hong Kong!

Ok, OK, I know what you are thinking…you went all the way to China and you went to the MALL! Hear me out. I happened to be staying at the Hyatt at K11 and had heard about the strange and very interesting art collection housed at the mall. I assumed it was a gimmick and nothing more, totally writing off a visit. When I was returning from my oh so wonderfully clear night on Victoria Peak, I decided to stop by on my way into the hotel (there are several entrances to the Hyatt inside the mall after all). I was floored! The juxtaposition of their wonderful art collection (mostly contemporary Chinese artists) to those elements purely for consumption had my head spinning with thoughts about where fashion, art, consumption, waste, longevity, youth, sweet shops, labor (on and on) all intersect and interrelate.

Iron Panda

This guy is a sculpture of fiberglass and steel and resin by artist Bi Heng. It was this sculpture that initially caught my attention, drawing me into the zigzag that is K11. Iron Panda combines three elements, the giant panda, his iron man suit and tai chi (nature, technology and spirit); his melancholy is apparent beneath his powerfully rugged exterior. Mankind abandoning our heritage in pursuit of technological power, but perhaps balance can save us if we only work to find it (paraphrased from what I recall of the artists statement and my own interpretation).

Iron Panda
Iron Panda

Photo Technical Info

  • Aperture: ƒ/8
  • Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
  • Taken: 26 May, 2014
  • Focal length: 24mm
  • ISO: 100
  • Shutter speed: 1/2s
  • Title: Iron Panda

Overlooking Hong Kong from VIctoria Peak on a Clear Night

Posted on June 9th, 2014 by

The Weather is Unavoidable

When you fly halfway around the world for a photo, the least the location can do is cooperate when it comes to the weather! Truth be told, I have been extremely lucky the past few years (knock on wood!!!). Whether it was January in Geneva Switzerland or the constantly fantastic weather in Hawaii…most of the time I have at least a few good days of mostly sunny (with some pretty cloudiness) weather. Our first trip to Hong Kong was an exception and we kept putting off Victoria Peak because of the blanket of clouds. We chose well as our last night was a clear as it got!

Returning to Capture What I Missed

Sometimes I end up going to a place I have been before. The secret of cheap travel (are you ready for this revelation?) is to go where the fares are inexpensive, not necessarily where you WANT to go. If the fares take you to Milan, Italy two times this year, then just take the train to Venice. If you missed a clear Victoria Peak shot on your first try in Hong Kong…maybe the second try will pan out!

Overlooking Hong Kong from VIctoria Peak on a Clear Night
Overlooking Hong Kong from VIctoria Peak on a Clear Night

Photo Technical Info

  • Aperture: ƒ/8
  • Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
  • Taken: 25 May, 2014
  • Focal length: 16mm
  • ISO: 200
  • Shutter speed: 6s
  • Title: Overlooking Hong Kong from VIctoria Peak on a Clear Night

An Offering at Man Mo Temple in Hong Kong

Posted on May 22nd, 2014 by

Man Mo Alter

I have never professed to know exactly what is going on in Buddhist Temples. There is praying of course and offerings, but exactly what transpires is a bit of a mystery. Just after taking this photo of some kind of offering on one of the alters a woman started yelling at me and shooing me away. I think she thought I was taking photos of the worshipers (which I was not out of respect), but still, this was the last think I photographed in the very small Hong Kong temple!

An Offering at Man Mo Temple in Hong Kong
An Offering at Man Mo Temple in Hong Kong

Photo Technical Info

Waibaidu Bridge Shanghai China

Posted on March 27th, 2014 by

Wandering in the Dark

I arrived in Shanghai after a 16 hour flight and made it to the hotel around 4pm in the afternoon. I took one of the fastest commuter trains in the world from the airport. We traveled at over 300km/hour…this is the slower speed they run the train. I was exhausted, but I left the comfort of my hotel to venture to the Bund the first night to wander alone in the dark with 1000 strangers.

Today’s Photo – With a bit of Soul Searching

I have been thinking quite a bit today about pushing myself. The constant moving has taken a physical toll on me lately, but every time I process a new photo it makes me recall the journey. I recall how alive travel makes me feel and how I find glimpses of childlike wonder on the road; a wonder I once though forever lost. There is something out there I am searching for, I know not what, but my soul has seen glimpses, even in the most usual of subjects.

Waibaidu Bridge Shanghai China
Waibaidu Bridge Shanghai China

Photo Technical Info

Jing’an Temple Shrine

Posted on March 20th, 2014 by

Today’s Photo – A Personal Shrine

Jing’an Temple is a vast place full of monks, Buddhist practitioners (laypeople) and tourists alike and finding privacy must be next to impossible. One of the things that I found interesting is the large number of spaces for worship. I don’t profess to understand all the in’s and out’s of Buddhism, but this Jing’an Temple shrine seems to be made for an intimate bit of prayer. I arrived early in the day and was lucky to capture the temple with few visitors.

Jing'an Temple Shrine
Jing’an Temple Shrine

Photo Technical Info

Jing’an Temple Courtyard Shanghai China

Posted on March 17th, 2014 by

Today’s Photo – Old Meets New

I have said it many times before, but I absolutely love contrasts. Ares of harmony that flow, even though they should fight each other. The Jing’an Temple Courtyard is one of these sorts of contrasts. You can see in this one view how the new Shanghai has erupted and almost taken over this nearly 2000 year old Buddhist Temple, but somehow it all works. It seemed to me this is one of the truths of modern day China and perhaps one of it’s great strengths.

Jing'an Temple Courtyard Shanghai China
Jing’an Temple Courtyard Shanghai China

Photo Technical Info

Pudong at Night

Posted on November 14th, 2013 by

Night Walking

Walking at night is easy in Asia since we Westerner’s land with a 12 hour out-of-whackness built in to our circadian rhythms. Today’s photo is of Pudong, a very new area of Shanghai. So new there is a gif created about the last 26 years of development … it is stunning. I particularly liked the raided pedestrian walkway above the street that went all over by my hotel, the mall, by Oriental-Pearl-Tower, etc.

Pudong Gif
Pudong at Night
Pudong at Night by W. Brian Duncan