A Glimpse of China In 1988 - Restored Photos From My Dad's Journey Through China And A Snapshot of My Relationship With The Country

My dad spent his 20's to his 40's traveling the world, hardcore backpacking style. In his 1980's China trip he was one of the few foreigners going into previously blocked off areas in China. He was a semi-professional photographer and after receiving a dual degree in psychology and philosophy he continued to pursue a degree in journalism, with photojournalism being his passion. I recently found his old slides and restored them to a digital format. I have throughly enjoyed this restoration project, as I get to sit around with my dad going through all of his old pictures and hearing his amazing travel stories. I want to share a few of them with you here, I hope you enjoy!

For me, it is extremeley interesting to see my dad's photos from China 30 years ago and hear my mom's stories of her growing up in China in the 60's. It is interesting because their pictures and stories are nothing like the China that I know today. China is rapidly changing, and the country that I knew as a 5 year old is no longer the country that I know as a 21 year old. China has a rich, rich history. However, I believe that in the Communist Revolution and Cultural Revoution much of this history and culture was stripped away from the people. Now, I see it as a nation that is having an identity crisis, unsure of where it came from and what it is today. Because of that, I have seen many Chinese cling on to materialism and "development" as their identity. I see many people find a meaning for themselves through material wealth. I love my family, and because of that I love China. However, I feel just as lost with my own Chinese identity as I imagine many native Chinese feel about their own nation.

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The Temple of Heaven - This was shot inside the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. It was illegal to take photographs back then, as the government was still fairly closed. My dad would pre-set his f-stop and hide the camera by his side and click when the guards weren't looking. He risked confiscation of his film if he was caught.

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Hedgehogs for Dinner - My dad was biking from downtown Beijing to a nearby Buddhist temple and came across these men selling hedgehogs on the street for dinner.

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The watermelon men of Beijing - I

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The watermelon men of Beijing - II

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The hutongs of Beijing - Hutongs are allies lined with courtyard residences. They used to be commonplace in northern cities of China but most have now been demolished for development.

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Luck at the front gate of the Forbidden City - This is at the front of the Forbidden City, where a father and son are trying to get a coin to stick to the gate in order to recieve luck for the year.

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Bike city of Beijing - If you have recently been to China, you will see cars every where. The streets are packed with cars and each street just seems like a continuation of a parking lot. Back in the 80's automobiles were not common place. Rather, everyone got around on their bikes.

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Eel Spillage - A guy was riding his bike close to the Temple of Heaven in Beijing and had two containers full of eels balancing behind him. He collided with another bike, and two containers of hudreds of eels spilled over the whole street.

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Peoples' Power - This picture shows an old diesel motor being dragged along outside of my dad's motel. This is how large objects were transferred back in 1988. In fact, China was very closed to technology for a very long time because one of the government's greatest fear was not having enough work for its citizens. Therefore, they kept technology out and kept human power in.

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Rice patties on a train between Chengdu and Kunming - I

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Rice patties on a train between Chengdu and Kunming - II

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Old town Kunming - This was the "old town" of Kunming which was protected from upcoming development. There were no cars but many people.

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Little Emperor at the Forbidden City

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Bringing Dinner Home - This picture shows a woman taking her dinner home. Going to a "grocery store" in China is very different from in the US. There are a few "modern" grocery stores in the big cities, but usually it is an open market set up. The meat is hanging and dripping blood. Many animals have not yet been cut up into small chops. My mom has some fun stories growing up in the 60's in China and having to kill chickens for dinner. She would chop their head off and then they would run around the courtyard headless, with my mom chasing them down.