(interview) Photojournalist Carter to Publish China Book
2007-12-04 20:19:00
An Interview With China
Photojournalist Tom Carter
American photo-journalist Tom Carter has spent the past four years in the People’s Republic of China, traversing all 33 provinces and autonomous regions not just once but twice. The San Francisco native’s hardback book, a definitive 800-image volume aptly entitled CHINA: Portrait of a People, is due out this winter from Hong Kong publisher Blacksmith Books. Tom took a day off from travelling to discuss the challenges of taking pictures in China, how he evaded censorship in the tightly-controlled republic, and to share a few insider tips on visiting what is to become the world’s largest tourism market. Your upcoming book focuses heavily on photographs of people, from peasants to punk rockers, ethnic groups to entrepreneurs.
Read more: interview
, Publish
China is Destroying Itself
2007-12-04 20:17:04
China is Destroying Itself
, by Tom Carter In four months or less, a 1,700-year-old village, and the mountain life it preserves, will see water seep through the ancient wood homes, rising higher and higher, until it is completely submerged beneath the jade shoals of the Wu River.Gongtan of the Youyang Tujia-Miao Autonomous County in southeast Chongqing will unfortunately meet the same fate as countless other unprotected historical sites across China being leveled in the name of innovation.In its place, the Pengshui Hydro Power Plant will be resurrected, not exactly an attractive replacement for the antiquated beauty of Gongtan, but nonetheless a much-needed jolt for a municipality suffering from regular power outages.Controversial waterworks are nothing new to Chongqing, the largest in
Read more: China
Langmusi, Gansu province, China
2007-12-04 20:15:19
Langmusi, Gansu province, China
by Tom CarterMurmuring an unbroken stream of prayers, and focused intently on a scarlet and silver monastery bathed in morning light and incense smoke, four Tibetan women fell to their hands and knees in succession. They laid face down before standing up to clasp their hands in prayer for their three hundredth prostrate atop the snow-dusted hilltop on the Sichuan side of Langmusi.But the solemn chants of these devout Buddhists soon dissolved into the self-conscious giggles of young girls upon sensing the presence of a foreigner. Using the moment as an entertaining respite from their prayers, they beckoned to see the pictures I had just taken of them, the site of themselves on my digital camera bringing even louder laughter.Located at an altitude of some 3,00
(press release) Carter Completes China
2007-12-04 20:14:30
AMERICAN PHOTO JOURNALIST TOM CARTER COMPLETES GROUNDBREAKING 33-PROVINCE JOURNEY ACROSS CHINAEpic trip lands book deal with Hong Kong publisher Blacksmith Books Beijing, China
– American photojournalist Tom Carter
today announced the completion of a groundbreaking journey throughout all 33 Chinese provinces and autonomous regions, and took his place amongst the few living Westerners able to make the claim.With limited Chinese language skills and an even more limited budget, Carter backpacked alone across the vast 9.6 million sq. km. Middle Kingdom, visiting over 200 cities and villages. “I’m exhausted and broke, but it feels good to join the elite ranks of the few in history who have had the ambition and the energy to see China in its entirety – Marco, Mao and Tom!
Learn Kung Fu at Shaolin Temple
2007-12-04 19:52:43
Learn Kung Fu at Shaolin Temple
, by Thomas Carter“Let’s see your Tiger-Crane style match my Eagle’s Claw!”Ah, the immortal words of dueling Shaolin warriors. Though dialog like this is mainly the stuff of low-budget Hong Kong movies, there is in fact a place where such challenges are still uttered. Not to the death, of course, but between students at Shaolin Si, China’s most famous Kung Fu temple.Located atop the western peak of the sacred Song Shan Mountain in northern Henan province, 800 year-old Shaolin Si has been destroyed and rebuilt time and again, weathering attacks by emperors, warlords, cultural revolutions, and now its most reoccurring invaders – the modern tour group.In fact, not until the advent of the 1970s Kung Fu movie craze and the popul
Teach English in China
2007-12-03 20:52:55
Teach English
in China
, by China Photographer Tom CarterHaving little luck finding an attractive job offer in the U.S. in 2004, I decided to take my skills where they were wanted — abroad.Enticed by the “Teach English in China — No Experience Necessary” ads saturating the online classifieds, I emailed my resume with one hand and packed my bags with the other. I had no idea what to expect, but then, the great unknown can be what makes a job like teaching English in the People’s Republic so appealing.As the world’s largest economy opens to foreign investment, education has become one of China’s thriving sectors. Confucius probably wouldn’t stand for it, but he wasn’t wearing pinstripe suits and driving a shiny black sedan. The country may
Hotan and Kashgar - the Gems of Xinjiang
2007-12-03 20:51:19
Hotan and Kashgar - the Gems of Xinjiang, by China photographer Tom CarterPerhaps the foremost reason why so few travelers make the journey to northwest China’s Xinjiang province is quite simply its vastness. Aside from being located on the exact opposite side of the country from Beijing, which itself is a long journey even by plane, the arid autonomous region is the largest territory in China, spanning over one-sixth of the second largest continent in the world.It’s also a long journey in terms of the cultural shift the traveler will experience especially when one spends a whole day in its street markets. And conversely, considering its proximity to central Asia, sharing borders with an astonishing eight other nations, one wouldn’t believe that Xinjiang is the People&rsq
China’s Internet SUCKS!!!
2007-12-03 20:51:08
China’s Internet
SUCKS!!! by China Photographer Tom CarterIn late December of last year, a 7.1 earthquake off the coast of Taiwan severely damaged Asia’s undersea fiber-optic cables, disrupting telecommunication circuits across the continent.China and Southeast Asia saw their communications capacity fall to between 2 and 10 percent, and though a portion of service has since been rerouted to alternative fixed lines and suicidally slow satellite transmissions, the P.R.C. has yet to fully recover from the technological aftershocks, what Mainlanders are now referring to as the “World Wide Wait.Repair status is conflicting, with Chinese telecom officials publicly alternating between evasive (“the work is slow because of complicated conditions”), blameful (“th
Read more: China
Xanadu, China
2007-12-03 20:50:44
Xanadu, China
, by China photographer Tom CarterIn the summer it is a scalding expanse of desert, in the spring verdant grassland; but in the winter, Inner Mongolia is a white kingdom few travelers, beyong the occasional Mongol nomad, brave to enter.Indeed, the traditionally nomadic lifestyle of the native Mongolian reflects the region’s unforgiving climate. To quote the usually intrepid Lonely Planet guidebook chapter on Inner Mongolia, “…from December to March – forget it!”Occupying 12% of China’s landmass in a majestic arching slope of over one million kilometers, Inner Mongolia borders 8 other Chinese provinces in addition to the colossal countries of Mongolia and Russia to the north.Today, Mongolians make up only 17% of the provincial population. An
Jiuzhaigou - China’s Greatest National Park
2007-12-03 20:49:59
Jiuzhaigou - China
’s Greatest
National
Park, by China photographer Tom CarterAutumn is perhaps China’s most precious season, a respite between sweltering summers and fatal winters. But it is only in the northern Sichuan highlands of Jiuzhaigou, China’s natural wonderland, where fall can be witnessed in blazing splendor.Approaching Nine Villages Gully near the Gansu border, one may at first be daunted by the chaos of tour groups and ceaseless convoys of busses not unlike diesel prisons bullying their way through the crowds with deafening blasts of the horn. Be reassured, however, that anyone in a red hat following a flag and megaphone most certainly does not have the same itinerary as a more independent-minded visitor.While Jiuzhaigou is a massive 720 square meters, you ca
Panjiayuan - Beijing’s World of Antiques
2007-12-03 12:48:19
Panjiayuan - Beijing
’s World
of Antiques
, by China Photographer Tom CarterPerhaps not by coincidence, the Greek word Pangaea, meaning “all lands,” is the name historians have given to planet Earth before its continental drift 200 millions years ago, when the world was one.Similarly named Panjiayuan, Beijing’s largest antiques fair, can likewise be described as a place where
Hong Kong - Hindus, Hookers and Honkies
2007-12-03 12:47:40
Hong Kong - Hindus, Hookers and Honkies, by Tom CarterHaving spent over two-and-a-half straight years in the Chinese mainland without leave, it was with both anticipation and apprehension that I recently crossed the southern border into Asia’s wealthiest city.Despite its one-stop-shopping popularity with Mainland expats needing new clothes and a new visa, I truly had no idea what to expect i
Read more: Hong Kong
Chinese Youth Hostels - Sex, Drugs and…Stri Fry?
2007-12-03 12:46:06
Chinese Youth Hostels - Sex, Drugs
and…Stir Fry? by Tom CarterAs a veteran backpacker of both hemispheres currently traveling extensively throughout all 32 provinces of the People’s Republic of China, this writer has come to depend heavily on hostels. Without them I could not financially (or emotionally) last the 10 months I’m expected to be on the road. As such, I’ve broo
Read more: Chinese
Crime in China - a Threat to Tourism?
2007-12-03 12:45:01
Crime in China
- a Threat to Tourism
? by Tom CarterPerhaps the single most reassuring fact about travel in the People’s Republic of China is its remarkably low crime rate.The Ministry of Public Security (MPS), the principal authority of domestic criminal procedures, earlier this year announced a 15 percent decline in violent crime (4.5 million reported cases for 2005), while common property
Racism in China’s Hospitality Industry
2007-12-03 12:43:27
Racism in China
’s Hospitality
Industry, by Tom CarterAnyone who has spent time in the People’s Republic of China is obviously aware of the sheer number of hotels and sundry boardinghouses located in even the smallest city.What patronizing Western travelers frequently encounter at the front desk, however, is a sudden expulsion by the proprietor conveying in Chinese that NO FOREIGNERS AR
Read more: Racism
CHINA PHOTO BOOK BUILDS BRIDGE OF HEALING
2008-08-08 03:47:08
On sale now ~ CHINA: Portrait of a People ~ Thank you for your supportAugust 8, 2008 – For Immediate ReleaseCHINA PHOTO BOOK BUILDS BRIDGE OF HEALINGTom Carter’s CHINA: Portrait of a People captures diversity of 33 Chinese provincesBeijing, China – As the 2008 Summer Olympics commence, all eyes are on China. But far from being the celebration envisaged by Chinese leader
5 Most Beautiful Chinese Villages
2008-08-28 06:53:54
The Five Most Beautiful
Villages
in Chinaby Tom Carter, author of CHINA: Portrait of a PeopleChina, the mystery of the Orient, and also its greatest paradox. The fastest growing economy in the world from history’s oldest civilization, whence steel and glass skylines are haloed by crumbling walls and well-heeled bankers rub shoulders with barefooted ethnic minorities. The country is amidst on
Read more: Chinese
|
Recommend Site To A Friend
