Out of China

First, I'd like to wish everyone a very blessed CHRISTmas and ...
Xin Nian Kuai Le, gong xi fac cai

I've been in Guangzhou, Guangdong Prov., China for a little over three weeks.  And now that I'm back home, have access again to Blogger which is banned in China.  I know ... I know ... get a VPN to jump over the blockade, but that isn't my style at this juncture nor my desire; I agree with censorship of certain things for the betterment of mankind, so I understand a little.

Good bye to the land of eating snake, eel, pig's knuckle, pigeon, chicken feet, all of which I ate by the way.

I was able to expose several rolls of Ilford Delta 100 & HP5+ through my Mamiya 645 w/ 55-110mm zoom, 30mm Arsat and the Zero Image 69 pinhole camera at the 645 format setting.

I find people a bit reluctant to street photography, but for group photos they are like Pooh-bear to honey.  There seemed to be a self-consciousness about being photographed in the real environment, so I had to be sensitive to this.  I hope some of my work is good, although I didn't capture the types of images I had imagined as I was not in the right area, so this work is primarily urban and a bit celebatory as the Asian Games were happening at the time of my visit.

I was there to teach Chinese teachers of Science & Technology, but was pleased to also find a Music and an Art teacher amongst the cohort.  They are very wonderful people to work with and befriend.

Highlight of the China trip (I guess I can share it now), was being able to share the true Christian meaning and significance of CHRISTmas with a group of Chinese post-secondary students. Then we had small cell groups where I could testify about the Gospel a little more and field questions. I'd have to say, sharing the Gospel with Chinese nationals in China was the Pearl of the trip.  The one thing I didn't like was that I could not invite Chinese nationals to church as it was only for us non-Chinese nationals due to government regulations.  I was warned to carry ID as the red army (I think) or police, might do an inspection.  This did not happen the few times I was able to attend.