For millennia Western China has been awash in the cultures of Central Asia. Some of their stories have been immortalized in The Arabian Nights and The Travels of Marco Polo. Uighurs are a Central Asian Turckic people living in the wind swept deserts of Xinjiang Provence in Western China. I hope you enjoy this photo-essay of a seldom seen…
Tag: china
Photography Inspired by Traditional Art
How does traditional art influence your image making? Mist covered mountains on paper and silk paintings have filed my imagination since my late father brought one home from a trip to Beijing long ago. He loved Asia and China in particular. I think it’s because of his influence that I have also had a…
Beautiful Uighur Photo Essay
Photographer Wang Qing has produced a wondrous photo essay of Uighur spiritual practices in the Xinjiang Provence of Western China. Thank you to the terrific blog of Tewfic El-Sawy for this.
Emperors and Concubines
While we know it today for it’s magnificent blue and white porcelain, the Ming Dynasty is credited with closing off China from the rest of the world, putting an end to over a thousand years of cultural and economic exchange along the Silk Road. It was the Ming Emperor Zhu Di who moved the capital to…
China’s Earliest Buddhist Temple
In the ruins of the ancient city of Kashgar, we visited the Mor Pagoda. It was the first Buddhist Temple established in China and dates from the 2nd century AD. Ancient Kashgar was an important city along the Silk Road but was abandoned in the 10th century after internal strife and a war of succession…
Kochkor Village to Son Kul Lake
We left Kochkor Village early in the morning and after about 40 km we turned off the main road and onto a narrow dirt one that wound it’s way up the side of a mountain. The beauty was breathtaking and at the top of the first pass we saw a man and woman on touring…
Across the Pamirs
We completed our three day crossing of the Pamir Mountians to China by way of the Torugart Pass. Two days were spent in high altitude yurt camps. I have a detailed account coming as well as more photos. There’s no youtube here so I won’t be able to upload more video for a while. Yesterday…
Samarkand Paper Mill
We visited the historic Samarkand Paper mill as part of our Silk Road expedition. It lies on the outskirts of modern Samarkand, beyond the opulent Registan Square of Timur. It can be found among the long stretches of old mounded earth, all that remains of the storied mud brick Samarkand leveled by Ghengis Khan. The…
Round the world
This morning we are on our way to travel around the world by way of the Silk Road. Toady we fly to Instanbul where we’ll stay for a bit before continuing on to Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and China. From a historical perspective, we will be traveling through the regions that saw the first contact between…
Images of China
Curious Lizard is so very pleased to feature a set photos taken by Christina Warren on her trip to the World Expo in China earlier this year. Christina is adept at using the High Dynamic Range photography technique to push the boundaries of composition and exposure. Enjoy. [slickr-flickr tag=”China World Expo”]