Beijing photo tour transcends language barrier
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Employees of China Internatonal Publishing Group (CIPG) already get paid for their photography, but on Thursday, several of them were hoping for a 10,000 yuan bonus.
Beijing People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (BPAFFC) is hosting the second annual photo contest called "Beijing in the Eyes of Foreigners." The organization invited several foreign CIPG employees on a tour of Beijing Thursday to help the hopefuls find material to photograph. This year, the theme of the contest focuses on "The People's Beijing."
"The photos should relate to the people of Beijing: their lifestyles, entertainment, food, and surroundings," said Wang Jian, deputy secretary-general of BPAFFC and organizer of the event.
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A photographer from CIPG sneaks a shot of performers dancing in Taoranting Park. [Daniel Byrnes/China.org.cn] |
The tour began with a stroll around Taoranting Park, where Beijingers of all ages could be captured on film exercising, playing cards, paddling boats or relaxing.
Beijing Xuannan Culture Museum, the next stop on the tour, gave photographers a break from their cameras to learn about Beijing's past.
Translators from BPAFFC and electronic headsets helped eliminate the language complications for the foreign participants learning about a city with more than 3,000 years of recorded history.
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Photographers from CIPG frame their prize-winning shots of performers at Taoranting Park. [Daniel Byrnes/China.org.cn] |
"There's no limit between us when it comes to culture and beauty," said Xujin Xia, a BPAFFC employee and translator for the event. "Language will not be the barrier to capturing beauty. Images are something we can all share."
Wang said that the language barrier has been decreasing recently, and more Chinese people can speak other languages. He said this is because of the 2008 Olympic Games being hosted in Beijing and the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 2009.
Other destinations along the tour included Beijing Diablo Museum, Baoguo Temple, and a community center on Niujie Street.
"The different parts of Beijing have people with their own personal preferences," Wang said. "We're hoping [photographers] can capture the different aspects of life in their photos."
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Wang Jian of BPAFFC translates the welcome speech from a curator of Beijing Xuannan Culture Museum. [Daniel Byrnes/China.org.cn] |
When the tour ended, the participants loaded their favorite stills onto computers for evaluation.
Fifty photographs will be selected as prize winners and published in a compilation. Any foreigner is invited to submit photographs by Oct. 15.
"One day is too short," Wang said. "Every area of Beijing has a lot of stories to tell."
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