This weekend I went to Beidaihe - the seaside resort traditionally frequented by Chinese party leaders. It is also a popular holiday resort for Russians from the towns bordering Manchuria. It is a surreal place, fulll of old European style villas, and some more modern, bizarre architecture - like a beer garden tower shaped lilke a conch shell. Beidaihe is a strange, laid back place where many ordinary Beijingers also take their seaside holidays. Because there are so many Russians, the local shops address all westerners in Russian.
Images and words from Beijing by a Sydney-based British journalist. Most photos were taken with an old Leica III or a Contax IIa, using print film or slides.
Monday, August 29, 2005
Friday, August 26, 2005
Saturday, August 20, 2005
Catholic wedding, Beijing
On Saturday morning I popped in to St Joseph's church on Wanfujing to take some interior pictures. While I was there a bride and groom came in with a few family members to start what looked like a very informal wedding service. Here the priest is giving the bride and her father [or best man?] a few last words of advice. They didn't seem to mind me being around as they got ready!
Thursday, August 18, 2005
Nina Liu, star of The Power, in Beijing
Australian-Chinese actress Nina Liu is in Beijing rehearsing for a new English-language play called The Power, about the first and only Empress of China, Wu Zetian. Nina plays the leading role in a cast that is otherwise made up entirely of Chinese actors, although the play is in English. Catch it at the Century Theatre from 25 August.