Macro Gallery Update: May flowers spring up from the showers of April
As foreseen and foretold- those horrid showers of April do indeed yield May flowers. In this case, the flowers were actually photographed in November, but hey, you wanted flowers- you get flowers. (more…)
Children of the Chinese Countryside.
Not long after I settled into Jiujiang, I took my first trip into the Chinese countryside, guided by an art major from the university. She introduced me to Ruichang, a town on the outskirts of Jiujiang. Ruichang suffered a major earthquake in 2005. Her family home was one of the few that remained standing. Unfortunately, the home was structurally weakened and her family was forced to abandon it.
I only saw the house pointed out from a distance across a farmers field. (more…)
Chinese Lions and Chinese Dragons and Chinese Kung Fu Children, Oh my!
It’s actually not as bad as it seems. In the first couple of months after arriving in China, Jiujiang hosted their second annual International Lion and Dragon Dance competition. During the opening ceremony there was a performance by children showing off their Kung Fu dance skills. The event lasted a few days and being the veteran outdoor athletic event photographer that I am…er, was- Teva Games, I didn’t miss a moment.
Hop pass the break for a link to the photos. (more…)
29,990 Photographs taken in 3.5 years in China
Remember the hit Broadway musical from the 1990′s- Rent? 525,600 minutes. That’s how they measured a year. That or they measured it in love. How do you measure life in love if love, according to home journals and advice columnists, is supposed to be timeless and we all know the life of every living organism is finite (for now)? Sorry, got off topic there.
Five hundred, twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes or -what happened to the other 348.766 minutes, by the way? or, one photograph every seventeen point five hundred twenty-five thousandths minutes. I swear that .525 was just a coincidence. In any case, it doesn’t have the same rhythm when you put it to the soundtrack.
But it’s even crazier still to wrap my mind around the fact that since coming to China in September, 2007, I have captured 29,990 photographs. (more…)
Lifestyle gallery update: College life in China.
Last week I showed you a university graduation in China- Jiujiang University’s graduation 2009. A day before that we took a look at Track and Field held in Chinese university.
This new set of images takes us back to 2007, my first year in China, and into the everyday lives of Chinese university students. Hop past the break for a link to the gallery. (more…)
Lifestyle gallery update: City living in east central China. Second Edition
Earlier, I updated the Lifestyle section of the gallery with some examples of city life in China. Adding to that, here are some more examples of the sometimes extraordinarily unique aspects of life in China. Hop past the break for a link. (more…)
More landscape photos added to Landscapes
While going back through the 2007 catalog, I came across a few more photographs worth including in the Landscapes section on Gallery. Head over to the gallery for a look. (more…)
Jiujiang University Class of 2009 Graduated.
A deadpan headline, to be sure. In its defense, it is befitting of a ceremony that appeared so matter-of-factly. The graduation ceremony in Jiujiang was quick. It was moved up by an hour to help stave off the heat- the ceremony took place at the end of June. There were no chairs for the graduating students to sit during the speeches. Only a peppering of parents were in the stands to watch the event. About an hour after the students assembled and the faculty were seated, mortar boards were whizzing through the air and where a moment before, college students fidgeted and swayed from left foot to right foot, the newest college graduates of Jiujaing University stood proud with smiles and exhilaration. (more…)
Running really fast and jumping really high. Pursued criminal or Track and Field competition?
The answer is- Track and Field competition. OK, spoiler right there in the first line. Sorry, but really? You were going to go with ‘criminal’? For shame.
Jiujiang University’s annual track and field competition coincided nicely with the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China in 2009. To celebrate, they jazzed up their opening ceremony. The competition lasted for three days and included all of the expected events- sprint, relay, long-distance running, high jump, long jump, javelin, … – you get the idea. (more…)
Pretty Flowers blooming in Spring
I thought about adding “Shocker” to the headline of this post, then thought better of it. I don’t know- “Shocker” just seems so bitter a term. And it’s hard to be bitter when we’re talking about flowers and the beauty of nature. That is, unless the flowers in reference are roses and it’s February 14th and the stupid florist with the stupid flowers who hikes the price of roses to a stupid amount at that time of year was stupidly sold out when I went to buy some at the last minute because I relied on my stupid task manager to remind me to buy them and it failed to remind me so I was left to buy the last stupid rose from a stupid convenient mart for a stupid exorbitant amount of money. Then, and only then, I agree- yes it is alright to add “shocker” in a headline such as; “Shocker: Florists Sell Out of Expensive Roses on Valentine’s Day.”
However, I digress. It is not February and we are not talking about roses. (more…)
Lifestyle gallery update: City living in east central China.
Life in China isn’t all roses. Come to think of it, life anywhere isn’t all roses, unless you’re some famous celebrity that is loaded with money and revered by millions- Charlie Sheen, for example. No wait, that’s probably not the best example now. Anyhow, every lifestyle has downs to match its ups.
Speaking of ‘downs’, the building in this construction site is experiencing exactly that- down. The comedian, Jerry Seinfeld, once joked that walls around construction sites in the U.S. are not to keep people safe from harm. Their real purpose is to keep the men from loitering about. If there is credence to his observation then in Jiujiang, they use a rather novel approach- no walls at all. (more…)
Lifestyle gallery update: Chinese Weddings.
Wedding season is about to hit the peak season in the US. Here’s another glimpse into the Chinese wedding. It may be a good way to get a few ideas for your nuptial, if you’re about to take the plunge. At the very least, it could spark a new round of changes to really get your coordinators hair into knots.
When the newly weds, Michelle and her husband, exited the bride’s family home together for the first time, extended family and friends was there with fireworks, noise makers, and confetti tubes to greet the happy couple. (more…)
Lifestyle gallery update: Celebrating Christmas in China
This photograph of a Chinese university student celebrating Christmas eve with her classmates is part of my larger documentary thesis on contemporary life in China. Just across the street from the main entrance to Jiujiang University, there is a large complex filled with retail stores, restaurants, extended-stay hotels, tea shops, and even a couple of pubs. This area mostly caters to the students.
The Chinese academic year breaks for winter holiday during the Chinese New Year so on Christmas eve students are still holding fall semester classes. Since many of the students are from other parts of the country, and because celebrating Christmas in China is predominately the younger generation’s holiday, many students (more…)
It’s another pretty landscape
Here to wrap up a three-day post-by-post addition to Landscapes in Gallery is this cover shot of Gantang lake in Jiujiang, Jiangxi, China. I call it a cover shot because this photograph of a temple on Gantang lake became the cover for my thesis on contemporary life in China- Jiujiang: 9 Rivers. (more…)
Sunset pictures are relaxing
There’s always something about a good sunset photo to ease your tensions away. Hopefully having a look at this photograph will help ease some of the week’s tension from your mind. Or try yoga. I hear that is still a pretty popular way to inner-peace. But still, have a look at the photos. Oh! I know, look at the photos while doing yoga. (more…)
April 5th is Chinese Qing Ming Festival- Remembrance Day: Photo Essay
Also known as the tomb sweeping festival, Qing Ming [ching · ming] is the day Chinese honor the memory of lost loved ones by visiting their graves and offering gifts of homage. In 2010, I photographed one family celebrate the festival.
“… On this day families will trek to the burial sites of loved relatives to sweep the tomb, set fresh flowers, and offer a gift- some set a glass of wine, others set bowls of oranges. The offering varies by region and local custom. To pay respects pyres of old paper money are also lit, as well as firecrackers, at the base of the headstone. The paper money has no cash value today and would be mistaken as funny money in some other countries. Members of the Dai family remembered their family this Qingming festival. …” Continue reading >>
The sun totally disappears behind the moon…for like, a minute.
A solar eclipse isn’t the most unusual or uncommon event in our lifetime. Before Halley’s Comment returns, how many more solar eclipses will we have? No, that’s a real question. I have no idea.
The thing is, on July 22, 2009, we did have one of those rare total eclipses. It lasted longer than 6 minutes- the longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century. According to research, the next eclipse to surpass this will not take place until the summer of 2132. That’s a long way off. (more…)
Chinese Newlyweds Go “Wee, Wee, Wee!…whew!” all the (long and winding uphill) way Home.
The Chinese wedding is an entirely unique experience. When I watched as Xu Ming carried his bride some 300 meters from the car to his family home uphill through winding narrow alley streets then up the stairs to their second floor bedroom while the bride’s maid of honor followed close by to keep the ceremonial parasol over the bride’s head, I could only think ‘poor guy.’ Not for the marriage (come on), though I can see where you may see it that way. No, I was only thinking about that walk. Please don’t ask if I would ever do the same. I hate to disappoint.
Anyhow, the rest of the day was just as chivalrous and exciting. (more…)
A Billion People Population and Still Room for Rural Living
With over 1.3 billion people, you may imagine the entire country as one big urban blanket- peppered with temples and Kung Fu Buddhist monks. It’s not true. There are vast stretches of rural communities that fill the void between China’s mega-cities. Possibly as much as one third of its population are farmers. While I was writing my thesis on Chinese lifestyle, I visited the family home of Liu Xiao Qing in Xin yu, a small city in Jiangxi roughly the same size in population to Jiujiang. (more…)
Chinese Lantern Festival- The little new year.
At the end of Chinese Spring Festival, Chinese light paper lanterns with wishes for a prosperous new year. In Jiujiang, the square around Gantang lake fills with people each year to take part in this tradition. The lanterns take flight like physical science class projects. They dot the sky as they float away to grant the senders wishes.
The festival is celebrated 15 days after the lunar new year, or, on the night of the first full moon of the new year. This celebration marks the end of the two weeks of Chinese Spring Festival and a return to daily obligations the following morning. (more…)
Lushan Mountain, a UNESCO cultural heritage site.
I love the mountains. There, I said it. No, it’s true! Lushan mountain was the backdrop from my balcony view of Jiujiang and arguably one of the best views I’ve every had anywhere I’ve lived.
The mountain is not only lovely to look at, it has a long and noteworthy history in China. Some of the countries greatest names in history lived here, worked here, traveled here, hid here, wrote here, and taught here. Today, the movie theater in Lushan village hold the Guinness World record for (more…)
Something Arguably Greater than China’s Rare Earth Minerals
Until I lived in China, I had only known Chinese porcelain as a fine ceramic. I wasn’t aware of how intricate, supple, fragile, strong, thin, translucent, delicate, and beautiful fine porcelain could be. Yes, that’s a lot of adjectives. With a better vocabulary, I’d press on.
I also didn’t know how close I’d landed to China’s greatest resource of the finest porcelain material, when I arrived in Jiujiang. As it turns out, Jingdezhen, the home to the finest bed of kalonite which is the mineral at the base of fine porcelain, is just a couple of hours east of Jiujiang in eastern Jangxi province.
Like all great discoveries or revelations, it took time to realize my full appreciation for this fortunate accident of proximity. Thanks to my friends at the Jiujiang University Foreign Advising Office who took time to schedule a trip to see the home of the worlds finest Chinese porcelain. (more…)
Celebrating Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year is the most anticipated holiday of the Chinese year. The celebration lasts two weeks. During those two weeks, families come together, paste new banners of prosperous wishes around their doors to welcome the new year, set fireworks (lots of fireworks), travel, shop, eat plenty of jiaozi (Chinese dumpling) [gee·ow dz·eh], and light more fireworks.
This set of photographs only begins to examine the way Chinese spend their holiday, by highlighting the plethora of fireworks and other holiday decorations available for sale leading up to the holiday. (more…)
Redo: Jiangxi Provincial Government Sponsors a Photography Tour of Hot Tourist Spots.
On the weekend of April 10th [2010] a group of foreign visitors, workers, and experts living in Jiangxi, China were invited on an all-expense-paid tour of tourist spots near Jiujiang. The weekend trip began in Nanchang, the capitol city of Jiangxi province, Friday morning with a bus ride to Jiujiang, a walking tour of the city, and a 5-star western dinner in downtown Jiujiang. On Saturday, the group traveled to Hukou to tour a portion of Poyang lake and the Yangtze river by boat and walk through Stone Bell Mountain temple. After touring Hukou, the group continued on to visit an orange plantation and finished at Lushan Xihai. Inclement weather on Sunday limited the tour to just boating through the small islands on Lushan Xihai. A scheduled trek up the mountain was cancelled. (more…)
