Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, China.
A solitary Tibetan Yak herder shuttling Chinese tourists back and forth across what appears to be man made-waterfalls.
I’ve photographed a series of books for National Geographic Traveler on London, Great Britain and China. I love book projects because they give me more opportunity to explore the various aspects of a country in depth, but that can bring it’s own set of challenges. For the Great Britain books I have to admit that...
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Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, China.
A solitary Tibetan Yak herder shuttling Chinese tourists back and forth across what appears to be man made-waterfalls.
I’ve photographed a series of books for National Geographic Traveler on London, Great Britain and China. I love book projects because they give me more opportunity to explore the various aspects of a country in depth, but that can bring it’s own set of challenges. For the Great Britain books I have to admit that my rental car didn’t fare too well after weeks of driving on roads in the opposite side of what I’m used to. I lost the side-view mirror on the first day.
I love traveling in China for its diversity. From the Silk Road, Hong Kong, Mongolia, to its cities that rival New York in population, China is an absolutely massive country to cover. This can create it’s own set of challenges. Despite often using a translator the language barrier sometimes proved somewhat frustrating. Once I missed my train in a rural area and having no sense of pride I yelled out, “Does anyone here speak English?!” A young couple shyly stepped forward and admitted that they had some limited English skills. After extensively photographing me for their Facebook page (a prerequisite for nearly every interaction in China), they kindly helped me to buy a new ticket and gave me their cell phone number in case I need further assistance. Which I did. Often. I soon saw the brilliance of this plan and as I worked my way around this expansive land I collected cell phone numbers from gracious but random people along the way. “Hi, It’s Alison. I met you at a taxi stand. Can you please tell this waiter I’d like my dumplings steamed and not fried?” It certainly gained me a lot of new friends and has made me much more patient with the non-English speaking tourists I’ve since met in New York City. And sometimes they’ll even get my cell phone number.
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