This is the western part of Hangzhou, one of the youngest areas of the city, with a population of over 2 million last year. This photo was taken on a hill at an altitude of about 200 metres, just on the edge of the area, excellent to discover the breathtaking speed of Hangzhou’s development.
This photo shows two pigeons fighting for food, but it happens to look like they were ‘kissing’ at the moment I pressed the shutter button. It was taken at a Buddhist temple in Hangzhou called ‘Fa Xi’, which is famous for its effectiveness in finding marital destiny.
Jing’an Temple by night:
This temple is special because it is located in the centre of Shanghai, one of the busiest areas in the world. As one of the oldest temples in China, it has a history of almost two thousand years. Fifty years ago it was completely destroyed by the Cultural Revolution and a fire. Now this ‘modern look’ temple is the most important Buddhist site in China.
This photo was taken in Nanjing, which was the capital of China six times. It shows a very detailed piece of architecture from the Ming Dynasty. The green part is made of ceramic, shaped so that rain falls gently. The red part is made of wood, painted with very vivid mineral pigments, which can last a very long time and show incredible saturation under sunlight. The pattern in the shadow is from Buddhist culture, also painted with mineral pigments.
A cat raised by the kind owners of a small shop needs to sleep more than twelve hours a day. We named the shop ‘The Cat’s Shop’ because of this beautiful and lazy cat.
This is a park that bears witness to the friendship between Hangzhou, China and Fukuoka, Japan. Its lotus landscape is very famous. When summer comes, the bright sunshine makes the lotus leaves and lotus flowers show amazing and elegant colours. The vague building behind was once the courtyard of a wealthy merchant.
(Portuguese) ‘Igreja de SĆ£o Domingos’ in Macau, has over 400 years of history, built by Spaniards and administered by Portuguese. I added this image to the collection because of its particular yellow colour and interesting contrasting lighting.
These two pictures were taken in Hong Kong, one of the world’s most multicultural cities. It has some of the best harbours in the world. It was occupied by the British in 1842 and only returned to China in 1997. As such, it has survived two world wars and the Chinese civil war. It is still a place where Eastern and Western cultures collide. It has created a modern, international city full of contradictions, congestion and a huge gap between rich and poor. For photographers, the streets here seem to have a kind of magic that makes it easy to take interesting pictures.
A quiet temple in Hangzhou, close to the West Lake. Very few tourists will come here as there are so many popular viewpoints around. The quaint architecture, lush vegetation and such a quiet and peaceful atmosphere make it hard to imagine that it is located in an area with the most tourists.
This picture was taken by Joe(Zheyun) in Norway. One of her favourite photos after post processing.
This picture was taken by Joe in Iceland. I adjusted the colour and contrast according to my imagination to make it fit Iceland in my mind. Joe promised to come to Iceland with me one day. (ć£ Ā°Š Ā°;)ć£