Daocheng Again

From Daocheng & Ya...

Actually Daocheng again here meant my second visit to Daocheng, first referenced in an earlier blog entry, this time with two friends, Tim and Amos, both avid photographers. . I have not managed to blog any photos of that trip here, and I shall be visiting that place again in the coming week.. So again.. Anyway, I feel I'd better post some photos, better late than never! And, it's rainbow again! (Didn't expect to catch another wonderful rainbow from almost the same spot I shot this another rainbow..

From Daocheng & Ya...

This trip we made it to Yading, said to be the real Shangrila, which is the main reason why people visit Daocheng.. Pristine nature reserve.. This I believe is called Mt. Chanadorje, one of the three peaks in Yading. We had to trek by foot, (horses were unavailable), and this is the spot where we basically just chilled out and spent the afternoon..

From Daocheng & Ya...

This is mount Chenresig, with a highland lake (Pearl Lake, 4000 meter from sea level) in the foreground.. We nearly dropped dead from the effort expanded to trek upwards to this spot..

From Daocheng & Ya...

The Chonggu monastry, at altitude of 3880 meters. These are craftsmans working on some restoration project on the temple.

From Daocheng & Ya...

That man in yellow, yep, that was me showing them their photos on the LCD of my shiny camera! The gentleman in front is the cook and caretaker of the temple. Photo captured by my friend Amos.

From Daocheng & Ya...

Back to Daocheng, with my favourite subjects.. Kids! There, hope you enjoy these photos. More of the same Daocheng photos over here.

Acknowlegment: many of these photos were captured using the Zuiko 11-22 lens loaned kindly to me by my dear friend Jonathan Thong. I am loaning it again for my upcoming trip hee hee..
Cheers!

Sometimes I wish I could be happy..

There are days I wished I could be just be like her.. Yes, she is the same granny as the post below.. She lived through a harsh life, endured hardship and poverty, but she sure looked happy here.. Look at her creased face, toothless and all; surely, not be like her you say? Well, heard a friend say some days he'd simply wake up and wonder about the purpose of life.. Well that sounds quite ordinary, except for the fact he is about to tie the knot with his loved one very soon! Does life hold anything dear? To live, to age, get old, and die.. So we have the life everlasting; but, somedays I just wish I were her..

I am Back!

It has been close to a year since I lasted posted.. Sorry for the absence.. However, from now on I shall be posting quite a bit more. In the past 11 months or so, photography wise, I made another two trips to China. One trip was to Daocheng (again!) for that place holds dear memories. Then there's one trip was with a couple (the Cha's) who had left China in their youth, they are back to visit their relatives. Well, just one photo for now, one of Cha's many relatives.

Cheers.

Funeral

My father has passed away. He lived a full life, and at age 90, was relatively healthy. This was taken during the memorial service just before cremation.

Spinning prayers

I was at Kangding (康定), Szechuan when I chanced upon this group of elderly gentlemen and ladies spinning this column containing prayers, non stop, as an expression of their faith and prayer. What struck me was a granny was so infirm that she had required a walking stick, yet she was as diligent as any others..

From a local park

Marked my b day recently with a visit to the local park with a friend (Amos), to share breakfast, and a chance to take our photo gear out of storage.. Nothing fancy, just some simple scenes recorded.. 

 

Rainbow!

I saw this rainbow from the main streets, rushed to the fields, praying it won't fade away just yet, and was shocked to see it was a complete rainbow spanning both sides!

This is a stitched photo from 5 shots spanning from left to right.

Another series on Daocheng dusk

Having grown up in a concrete jungle that is home, I have not really had a great deal of experience taking lanscape kind of photos; however, Daocheng is so breathtakingly beautiful, when the light and weather conditions are right, landscape just came naturally! So enjoy, from a landscape rookie :-p

 

 

 

 

Lama Friendship

Some of my friends will notice that the bag in the picture below looked familiar! Yes, thats my Akha bag! I was out taking photos when I chanced upon a Tibetan boy, Dinda, who invited me to his house where I met his uncle, a lama. We had breakfast together, yak butter tea and Tsumpa, and I made up my mind to give my Akha bag to him as a token of appreciation. In return, he blessed me with a golden haddah around my neck.. I hope to return there sometime soon to give the the prints..

 

 

 

40-150 and Ex25 combo 1/500 f5.0 iso200

Daocheng 稻城

So I finally went to Daocheng, south west Szechuan, Shangrila and land of my dreams; haha, not quite, the weather was poor, rain, hail, cloudy, not much motivation for photography.. still,