Words and Pictures

It may be pretty from a visual standpoint, but pretty sunsets often come at a high price. This sunset near Beijing was enhanced (not digitally) but by the abundant air pollution from area factories, traffic emissions and lots of atmospheric dust.

It was the end of a long day. We had walked extensively and finally just as the light was at its useful end, these two men came down a lane near one of the un-restored Ming Tombs on the outskirts of Beijing. Sometimes it takes all day for everything to come together.

Colorful, loud, very difficult to understand, interesting. These are just a few of the words to explain the experience of viewing and photographing Beijing Opera.

Beijing’s ancient observatory was a stones throw from our home in Beijing and we visited often. I am a rank amateur when it comes to astronomy, but I have tremendous respect for the patterns of the planets and the stars in their movements. And it was the patterns I saw when I visited the observatory [...]

When I lived in Taiwan in the late 1970s, one of my favorite articles of clothing was a handmade blue jacket. I wore it for years (even after my return to the United States, where it was so much out of style). They are extremely comfortable. Anyway, this is not about clothing but about the [...]

There was a time when Mao could do no wrong. Whatever Mao said was policy. Few dared to cross him and those that did suffered horribly. The ultimate power? Not quite. You see, Mao believed that power grew out of the barrel of a gun. It was really a sudo-power that was waning even before [...]

The dragons and the phoenix are in the details of the Hall of Annual Prayer from the Temple of Heaven complex in Beijing. The emperor would come annually to offer prayer and sacrifices for China and for the imperial ancestors. The dragon and the phoenix are symbols of the emperor and the empress.

The first time I walked down Changan Avenue in Beijing I told myself, “you’ve got to photograph this street, because it is going to change!”
At the time, there were numerous one-story single-family homes and much of life happened on the street. Here two men keep an eye on a pet bird in a cage. The [...]

Progress and development are powerful words. Tear down the old! Build the new! But what happens when the old happens to be stable families and neighborhoods? Do we tear those down and try and build new? Is it even possible?
Much of Beijing had changed very little for hundreds of years when we arrived in 1985, [...]

Sometimes inanimate objects take on an almost human quality. This old weathered door with knobs and a lock look way too much like a not-so-happy face with its tongue sticking. Have a nice day.