China is Real

A process blog created during my three-month residency at Red Gate Gallery in Beijing, 2013. All images are original unless otherwise noted or featuring material owned by someone else, in which case credit is listed. brydenwilliams.com

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They keep the roadside parks very clean in Beijing.

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A little street hound.

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They keep the walls and floor very clean in Beijing's subway.

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Mau. 

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On the shore of the Yangtze River, Yichang.

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Yichang.

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Yours truly at the Three Gorges Dam visitor centre. The dam wall is directly behind me. It is 2km long. The largest concrete structure in the world to date. 

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The biggest ship lock I ever saw - at the Three Gorges Dam.

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Drying some corn.

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I shared a cabin on the Chinese tour boat with this man pictured in silhouette in the top photo. He was friendly and his name was Liao. We cruised down the ‘yellow river’ together during the Chinese mid-Autumn festival in 2013.

He took this photo of me gallantly waving his hat in the air - Wushan visible in the background.

Although his portrait turned out well, I wish I got a clearer picture of Liao: in particular, his immaculate white tracksuit that he wore and took great care of throughout the entirety of the three-day cruise.  

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After walking around in the sun for hours, a few beers and a nap, Wushan's summery humdidity made these stairs seem huge. I guess they really were big.

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Confucius in Wushan

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Chugging upstream with a full load of lumber.

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A Chinese tour boat engine room.

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Bamboo scaffolding: It seems strong enough.

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Chongqing.

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Checking out a palimpsest in Chongqing.

A bridge under-construction.

Down with the not-so-old.