China was an unforgettable experience both for my camera (Despite being dropped literally the second I walked out of Beijing airport) and me. In terms of photography I was extremely limited throughout the entire trip including Hong Kong but especially in China. I had only brought one body (Canon 5D) and one lens (Canon 35mm 1.4) and after the drop could only use apertures from 2.8 and smaller. Circumstances like these for a photographer who loves to shoot 1.4 and is restricted to only one focal length (albeit my favorite) kind of just sort of a little bit sucks. But the good news is that my camera still worked and the pictures still came out great. Not everyday does one get to experience two of the Great Wonders of the World in one trip. This was a ten day hands on history lesson about my people and let me say it was completely mind blowing. Technology, hard work, and culture from thousands of years ago still astonish people to this date and the legacy still lives on… proven by the architecture and brilliance of the 2008 Olympics. Although it is sad to say that Beijing was the most polluted and coldest places in all of China that we visited. The air quality rivaled California during that of the fires and every body of water visible was frozen solid. This is what caused the smog in nearly all of the outdoor pictures. Nevertheless the experience was invaluable and I would not mind visiting Xi’an and Shanghai again. Definitely would recommend you guys to visit.

I found a couple more reasons this time around to appreciate this beautiful city where both my parents were born and raised. First of all Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated cities in the world, so you can imagine there is non-stop action throughout the entire 24-hour life span of a day. This makes photography fun. Second, for the historic value. I recently read up more throughly on the history of Hong Kong and wanted to go deeper into it’s roots during this trip. I learned about the notorious Kowloon Walled City and the Dai Pai Dongs which are basically makeshift restaurants assembled in alleyways at night. Unfortunately Hong Kong doesn’t stay old fast. It is a faced paced city and something you see today might not even be there in the next three years. They don’t even make stinky tofu on the streets anymore like they used to, or at least not that much. Dai Pai Dongs disappeared due to the SARS crisis and the Kowloon Walled City was destroyed to make way for the airport. In between family gatherings spread out between a mere five days was all I had this time around to document the city. I am always looking forward to visiting this city and the importance it means to me. I can only hope much of it still remains the same so I can continue learning about its history.