china photos Posts

A Review of China: Portrait of a People by Tom Carter

CHINA: Portrait of a PeopleWhat Peter Hessler did in his memoir River Town, Tom Carter does with China: Portrait of a People.  A new wave of camera-toting expats will soon come to China hoping to follow in Carter’s footsteps.

I write this within a week of coming back to America after a year of teaching English at university in southern Hunan.  While it was a wonderful experience, I was eager to get back home and move on to bigger and better things.  But then Carter’s book came in the mail from Amazon.  My immediate reaction:  every expat coming to China should have one for the inevitable day culture shock strikes; the book should come wrapped in white paper with a red cross and the instructions: “For prevention and treatment of culture shock.  Open if you have any of the following symptoms…”   Just paging through it compels me to return to see what I can see, do what I can do, and meet whoever I can meet.

Photo: Left Luggage

China Photo: Left Luggage
The Lost Laowai flickr pool is full of talented photographers, but I continuely return to the photography of “Zhao Hua Xi Shi” for our featured photos. It’s cliche to say that a picture is worth a thousand words, but I can’t think of a better way to describe this image, or indeed most of the images in this photostream.

Photo: Chicken Dinner

China Photo: Chicken Dinner
This mouth-watering shot from the Gaoqiao market in Ningbo is by Mark Hobbs, a talented photographer and cultural studies teacher based out of Ningbo, Zhejiang. Check out Mark’s photostream for more great shots.

Photo: Fenghuang Morning

China Photo: Fenghuang Morning
This beautiful photo is part of a larger set of Hunan photos by Shanghai-based French engineer Yves Andre, who’s also quite handy with a camera.

Photo: When Kindergarten is Over

China Photo: When Kindergarten is Over
As explained by the photographer, Dan Mueller: “After returning home after school, many children are expected to take care of themselves as their parents work in the fields. Older children in primary school will do house work and take care of the babies. It is a lot of responsibility at a young age.”

Photo: Farmers at the Gate

China Photo: Farmers at the Gate
Another great photo from Beijing-based photographer Zhao Hua Xi Shi, previously “Elephant on a Bicycle”. I encourage everyone to browse through this talented self-taught photographer’s photostream. The photos do an amazing job of telling intricate and intriguing stories that show the complex mosaic of modern China.

Photo: Beijing Snowman

China Photo: Beijing Snowman
To help relieve a drought in Northern China, the gov’t induced snow by seeding the clouds over the capital with silver oxide. Some Beijing residents are using the rare flake fall to take part in classic winter activities – with not so classic designs. From the photographer, Scott Sykes (blog): “People are relieved and happy. Pictured is a snowman built by some teenagers near where I live. Snow adds some color and texture to the sometimes grey winter landscape in Beijing. Despite the fact that it is cold enough for snow several months per year, it rarely snows in Beijing because of the dry climate.

Photo of the Week: Winter Swim

China Photo: Winter Swim
From the photographer, flickr user elephantonabicycle: “A man warms up for a winter swim in the Lijiang River. Many elderly believe swimming in the freezing river can increase one’s life expectancy (though drinking cold water has the opposite effect, and can lead to stomach cancer).”

Photo of the Week: Yuanyang Harvest

China Photo: Yuanyang Harvest
I’ve often seen images of the Yunnan rice terraces, but they’ve all shown them as a lush-layered green. This is the first time I’ve seen them at harvest time, bringing to mind the cornucopia of colours that decorate the countryside of my home country, Canada, at this time of year. Be sure to check out photographer Benjamin Kong‘s amazing collection of stunning photos.

Photo of the Week: Kaifeng Street

China Photo: Kaifeng Street
The comments on this photo’s flickr page say it all – “classic China”. As the warm weather is quickly becoming a memory, I wanted to slip this image, by Elephant on a Bicycle, in here before we bundle up and don our long undies for winter.

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