As I look through the photographs, I see an Imperial eye. In China, I searched for what to me seemed "exotic." From Paul Theroux's introduction to "Exotic Postcards: The Lure of Distant Lands":

"It goes almost without saying that the exotic notion is a Western dream. . . . The exotic dream, not always outlandish, is a dream of something we lack, something we crave. It may be the naked islander, or the childlike odalisque squinting from her sofa with her hands behind her head, or else a glimpse of palm trees, since the palm tree is the very emblem of the exotic. It is also the immediately recognizable charm of the unfamiliar. . .l. But always the exotic is elsewhere. The word itself implies distance, as far from the world of home and scheming as Prospero's island of magic and exile is from Milan. It is the persuasive power of travelers' tales, the record of enormous journeys of quest and discovery; the heroism of these returned travelers is the glorious note of enchantment in their stories."

I went to China seeking something exotic.

I am still trying to learn how to use this site. I am finding that writing for an unkown audience is much harder than I imagined. Well, assuming anyone ever stumbles upon it. Potential audience.

Summer in Bejing was hot and grimy. The sky was gray, the sun a vague spot of orange glowing behind the smog. The stratification of Chinese society was evident on the street even though hawkers sold Mao's Little Red Book at every tourist spot.

Always, I looked for images of the China I expected to see. I was not interested in the New China and its unbridled growth. I have seen many excellent photographs that and felt that I could add little

I think of my trip to China, but it is all a gauzy memory. I look back through a fog. China itself was vivid--its skyscrapers and crowded, frantic streets, its odors and fragrances, the contrast between rich and poor. I am an impoverished student of politics and economics. Some time ago, I consciously decided to live through ego. I am subjective to a fault. I look for things, create them out of the merest materials. I won't pretend to be able to tell you about the cultural revolution with any authority, nor even the way that people feel. China is too vast, too complicated for my reductions. I went on a tour and moved through cities on a bus to "must see" destinations. Out the window, I would glimpse the places I wished to go. Green fields interrupted by by wind breaks where workers sat in the shade of trees. Cotton pajamas and straw hats. Old tools, wooden wheelbarrows. History, a bucolic past. But there was no stopping the bus, as we rushed to see the fresh new face of China, whose very antiquities were being feverishly renewed in the interest of tourism.

China Street Markets

We stayed in decent hotels in middle class neighborhoods away from the city centers. I am sure that this was a function of cost, but it also kept people in the hotels at night. Early mornings and late returns made for tired travelers. It was just too complicated to try to find some hip nightspot after a long day. One of the benefits, though, was that I could walk the streets in the early mornings before we left the hotel and get a sense of what daily life was like a working person like myself. Narrow treets were filled with sidewalk markets where people bought and sold produce, meats, and fish. Workers and students bought breakfast at open air restaurants. Soft morning light in pungent air.

I am experimenting with layouts and design while I post these first photos and hoping that all of this doesn't end up looking to awful.

I took these first photographs in Bejing. I went to China with images in mind shaped by old movies and photographs and novels. In Bejing, those images are not in the foreground. These photographs do not accurately represent what I saw in Bejing. I had to search for and create the images I post here. I was with a tour group, so I had little time for searching, but at every opportunity I would rush down an alleyway or sidestreet with my camera. Once in a while, I would find something that interested me. Most of the Bejing we saw was the New China which is replacing the old at a brutal pace. But I am far from knowledgable about such things and will try to limit my comments to what I actually sensed while I was there.

I've not decided yet what to do with this website, so I am going to put up some photographs from China that I took this summer. I will continue with travel photographs until I come up with a more definite plan. If anyone stumbles upon this blog, let me know what you think.

Are You Kidding?

I have just created a blog in about thirty seconds. It scares me to do something so big so easily. This is a test just to see if this works.