Three decades of documenting China

Within me I knew the China I saw, indeed the vast areas of the country I never had the opportunity to visit would also change. My desire was to visit and indeed photograph much before the inevitable modernization I briefly saw at Shenzhen would spread nationwide. However, it was fortuitous that my then local government, Strathclyde Region, had entered into a relationship with Guangdong Province. Partly having been, although briefly, to Guangzhou and having a growing obvious passion and interest in the country I was invited to participate in the newly set up exchange program.

By August 1992 I was starting out on a year both living and working in Guangzhou. From trying to learn about China from books, suddenly I would be thrust into one of the world’s fastest changing areas, the Pearl River Delta. No longer a traveler looking from the windows of hotels or trains, I would live within an actual “work unit” (danwei) located in an attractive suburban part of northern Guangzhou. I was being introduced to life within small Delta cities; visiting modern factories at the heart of the area’s industrialization; I was watching first hand an entire new transport and urban infrastructure literally being laid down under my feet; I was also immersed within the educational drives underway to produce English teachers - a language vitally important for developing international trade. It was there I saw the determination amongst the students of that period to really create a modern China. Opportunities arose for me get close to some exciting railway developments; to visit farming villages and learn about rural life’s challenges while also exploring many other parts of Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan, even meeting some of the area’s ethnic nationalities. Of course, regular visits were also made to Shenzhen, a city rapidly transforming since my initial sighting in 1987.