在河边喝茶

在河边喝茶
The problem with conventional organised group tours (at least those originating from Singapore) is they hardly cater to us photographer-types: limited stops (both in number and duration) for photography, lots of time wasted on “enforced shopping” (the tour guides bring you to designated places in the hope of earning commission) , arriving at photogenic spots at the wrong time of the day etc. etc. That was the problem I faced on my recent trip to China/Shanghai too, unfortunately 🙁 I was very happy when I managed to get half-an-hour to roam about at the picturesque Xitang (西塘) on the last day of our trip. The above scene was well-spotted by Cy, before I decided to make it an interesting candid shot 😀 The title is a pun on the sign at the bottom-right of the picture — literally, it means “Having Tea By The Riverside”.

Moody Huangshan

Moody Huangshan
Huangshan (黄山) (literally, yellow mountain), a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is well known for its scenery and peculiarly-shaped granite peaks. Unfortunately, it is also common shrouded in mist and rain, which was the case when we visited during our recent tour to China. The almost-monochromatic feel of Chinese brush paintings (水墨画) finally made perfect sense to me when I saw the equally monochromatic shots that I came back with! 😛

Shanghai At Dusk

Shanghai At Dusk
This was the view that greeted us at The Bund (外滩) in Shanghai (上海), that is, after muscling through the hordes of people that were there trying to take pictures. Not having the luxury, nor the space to set up a tripod to take my version of this famous view of the Pudong (浦东) skyline, I had to settle with using a higher ISO setting and by resting my camera the nearest handrail available. I didn’t get much time to take pictures before I myself was ousted from my position by the clamouring crowd behind.