Lijiang is not too unlike Dali, charming cobbled stones lining the streets of old towns full of ethnic charm, delicious local food, craftwork and souvenirs. It doesn’t have the stunning range of street food that Dali has but it has great ethnic restaurants with unique and tasty dishes. And an unusual dual open waterway system, one canal for household water for washing and one to supply toilets. I do hope that kid I just saw peeing into the waterway was using the correct one. Just a little reminder you’re still in China.
Read MoreHow to shoot on vacation in Bad Weather
It was 24ºc so we booked the tickets and when the time came we threw our summer clothes into the suitcase and... Holy Crap! A quick check of the wether before we departed and the temperature had dropped to 12ºc! We were booked to go during a rare and short lived winter spell in Hanoi. I mean that literally, a week after we got back the temperature had returned to 24ºc. So we threw the swimming costumes out of the suitcase and packed sweaters instead. It was a bit depressing but we were going to have a good time anyway.
Read MoreDali, the street food capital of the world.
There is a strong theme of flowers as flavours amongst plenty of familliar offerings like pancakes, tofu and chuar (Chinese kebabs) but it can all be eaten without having to stop the holiday and sit down for too long. I was definitely a bit iffy about the idea of eating flower petals but I was stunned by how delicions they taste. Our sense of taste is heavily influenced by our sense of taste and if you’ve never tired it they taste exactly like they smell. So keep an open mind and it’s definitely worth the visit for the food alone. And come in the winter, it rains all summer long and is warm and sunny in winter.
Read MoreMerry Christmas
Merry Christmas everybody. I hope you have a great winter break wherever you are.
Read MoreJust When You Think You’ve Seen It All.
A new client, Hogan, invited me down to Hong Kong and Heyuan for a shoot in their offices and factory. I didn’t have time to look up Heyuan which is typical on such trips. I often only find out after I have returned what the region if famous for. Years ago I shot regularly in Chengdu and a friend remarked that I must have seen lots of Pandas. Of course the only pandas I had seen were the one’s on the advertising in the airport, which made perfect sense as it’s the home of the Panda. But I had never had time to think about it never mind actually take a trip to see some pandas. However after 15 years in China I thought I had seen it all until we were driving down the highway towards the factory. Take a quick look at this atypcial road side scene... of course if you already know what Heyaun is famous for you may not be as surprised as I was.
Read MoreGlamping in China
…when my wife discovered a little get away in the woods (it's a bamboo woods of course) I hesitated. However when she showed me the luxury accommodation (from a futuristic tree house to A frame huts) with all mod cons and a nearby coffee shop with excellent cappuccinos…
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