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Photographing China

Even though I was trained as a photojournalist, I've never worked as a photojournalist, although I have backed up my writing with photography at various times in my career as a newspaper and magazine writer and editor.

I like taking pictures, but I don't think I could tell you why, at least not today. I just like it.

When I was a foot soldier in Vietnam from July 1967–68, I first carried a Super 8 mm film camera, the product of which I donated to Texas Tech University in the United States in 2004. But that camera got smashed during the Tet Offensive of 1968 so I began carrying a Polaroid camera around with me during the offensive into the Ashau Valley. I treasure those pictures.

Pictures rekindle memories; I often find myself staring at a detail in a photograph that I never noticed before or had forgotten about. Even the scrawled dates on the back of a cracked old black and white reminds me of where I was during a particular moment in my life.

So photography is worth it: for me at least.

If you're coming to Beijing from the West anytime soon, you are going to be entering another kind of world, and despite 30 years of modernization, there are still many people, places and things, colours, sights and sounds that are going to make your brain sizzle. You're going to want to remember these things and share them with friends.

For their part, the people of Beijing expect you to bring your camera. It's a pat part of any Chinese travel experience to stand like a tin soldier in front of their favourite scenic spots, perhaps Chairman Mao’s portrait on Tian'anmen Square, or something as simple as a beautiful rose bush, and have their picture taken.

Before your camera, they may be shy at first, reluctant to participate; it took a year for the residents of one hutong in southern Beijing to get used to seeing me around and to trust me enough to pose with their friends, children or alone. But you can break the ice by showing them the picture you took on the back of your digital camera. They won't understand why you think they're worth the trouble, but you will when you get back home and remember that moment, that contact, with some of the kindest, most humble and gentle people I have ever known.