China in a "What do you call a group of Eight?" Pictorial Homage

30 January 2008, 19:51

I was tidying up my photo folders today and came across some hidden gems from our trip to China years ago. When I first chose photos to post publicly, they didn’t stand out to me but there is something about them still.

This was taken in one of the Beijing Markets – Mao memorabilia was crammed onto many a stall. We even bought Mao’s Little Red Book purely out of curiosity and it still sits on our shelf though we haven’t read it (we probably haven’t even opened it!) I just liked it ‘cos it was red…

A typical Beijing Hutong. These places fascinated me and I’m ever so sorry to hear they’re being torn down in time for the Olympics. A unique piece of Beijing’s architectural and cultural history gone forever…

I love Peking Duck. The reality behind the sensation was quite readily on display. In this one, a Duck is channeling the spirit of a long-gone Chinaman. Can’t you tell?

Did I feel guilty taking photos of people who didn’t give their consent (not that I would have been able to ask them in Mandarin)? Um, yes, but I got some damn good photos out of it…

The Summer Palace. To be honest I didn’t get the most out of the Palace, but then I was hocking up half a lung at the time and really shouldn’t have been sightseeing in the first place.

The feted porn machine, porn DVDs and mags snuggled in by innocuous cancer sticks! The cornerstone of Chinese and Japanese street life in Qindao!

Alot of Beijing seemed to be in a state of disrepair, which added to its charm and grittiness I think – I love Grit. After living in the pristine environment of Tokyo for nearly 3 years, where things always ran on time, China had a welcome sense of chaos and roughness.

Chinese character on a wall of the Forbidden City.

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