China, the third largest nation in the world and the largest in population, offers a virtually limitless range of photographic opportunities. I made my first visit to China in June and July of 2004 experiencing many of its greatest cities and most historic sights.
I have organized nearly 200 of my China images into four separate articles. This is the first of them, concentrating on Beijing and Xian, the two great imperial cities of China's North. Xian, now a city of nearly eight million, was once the largest city in the world.
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Guards, Tiananmen Square Three levels of authority meet our gaze before the gates of the Forbidden City.
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Forbidden City Fogbound Seen from the top of Coal Hill, the gates of the wonderfully preserved...
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Lions Paw, Forbidden City More than a million people, including 100,000 artisans, built the...
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Ceiling, Forbidden City Beijing's Forbidden City has nearly 9,000 rooms, which housed...
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Urn, Forbidden City Huge brass urns still stand outside of the palaces within the Forbidden City....
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Yellow roofs, Forbidden City The roofs of the palaces within the Forbidden City are covered in distinctive...
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Throne Room, Forbidden City Under this ornate ceiling, Imperial China was ruled from a Dragon Throne.
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Palace Roof, Forbidden City Dragons guard the rooftops of the Forbidden City.
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Concubine's Bed, Forbidden City The ornate bed chambers of royal concubines can still be seen within the...
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Forbidden City Moat The 170 acre Forbidden City is completely encircled by a 160 foot wide...
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Morning excercise, Beijing Local security guards participate in exercise drills before going to work.
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Canalside, Beijing The Chinese capital city boasts many parks, most of them featuring...
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Exercise, Jinshang Park Morning exercisers keep time to music in Beijing's Jinshang park.
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Buddha atop Coal Hill Dominating Jinshang Park is Coal Hill, topped by a temple holding this giant...
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At Prayer, Jinshang Temple The faithful gather for prayer atop Coal Hill in Beijing's Jinshang Park.
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Doubling up in Beijing A man and woman carry a pair of young children along a Beijing street. One...
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Opera Teacher, Beijing In the Beijing Opera School, a teacher raps out the beat as he guides...
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Opera Student, Beijing A young performer takes his bows in a Beijing Opera School practice session.
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Operatic Education, Beijing A Beijing Opera School teacher enthusiastically endorses the performance of a...
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Foxiangge Pagoda, Summer Palace Beijing's Imperial Summer Palace was built in 1888 by Dowager...
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Card game, Summer Palace Not far from the spot where 384 eunuchs once held operatic...
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Cixi's Palace Elegant bronzes guard the vast summer palace that the Dowager Empress...
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Morning in the park, Beijing A fellow greets the day with exercise along a canal in a Beijing Park.
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Simon says? This quartet exercising amid the flower beds of a Beijing Park...
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Restaurant Staff, Beijing Six staffers share three chairs prior to starting their day in a Beijing...
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Street sleeper, Beijing A delivery man takes a nap break on a Beijing street.
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Tearful Elder, Beijing In Beijing, our tour group had a chance to chat at length with a woman in her...
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Mao and stuff We had lunch with a Beijing family, whose home featured a porcelain...
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Scrolls and Lacquer Chinese lacquerware dates back to 400 BC. Its polished, glossy sheen protects...
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Lessons, Beijing This lesson in cycling (and perhaps Chinese lions) took place along a busy...
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Lichee Tasting On this Beijing street corner, a woman gets to taste the lichee before she buys.
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Rag Wagon, Beijing I saw these women hauling a massive cart full of rags down a Beijing...
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Birdman, Beijing It is customary in China to take pet birds into a park and give them...
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Jade Diety A lavish and no doubt very expensive jade sculpture stands in the doorway of...
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News in Beijing Utterly absorbed by the day's news, a woman walks and reads at the same...
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Oblivious The streets of Beijing are filled with mechanics devoted to fixing bikes. Not...
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At the Gates of Heaven A young fellow in a Disney tee-shirt welcomes us to the the grounds of...
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Woman at rest, Temple of Heaven Thousands of Beijing residents visit the parks and gardens surrounding the...
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Roof at Temple of Heaven The sun burns through the late afternoon haze to backlight the ceramic...
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Ceiling, Temple of Heaven Golden dragons decorate the timbers of one of the many ceremonial halls in...
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Ceramic Tiles, Temple of Heaven A closer look at the dragons that embellish the Ming Dynasty ceramic...
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Hall of Good Harvests, Temple of Heaven The most notable building in the Temple of Heaven complex is the...
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On the Great Wall at Jin Shanling The Great Wall sprawls across Northern China, spanning 2,400 miles...
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Xian -- core of Chinese civilization The Tang Dynasty comes alive in the shadow of Xian's Great Wild...
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Moving Day in Xian Shooting from the window of a moving bus, I captured these youthful movers...
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Tai Chi Master, Xian In this portrait of a Xian Tai Chi instructor, I've tried to...
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Figurine, Shaanxi History Museum, Xian This Ming Dynasty figurine reminds me in some ways of the Tai Chi master I...
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Tang Dynasty Construction, Xian In stark contrast to the ornate Chinese architectural embellishments of later...
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Performance, Shaanxi Grand Opera House Visitors to Xian enjoy a trip back to the Tang Dynasty at the lavish...
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Morning drums A morning walk past Xian's Great Wild Goose Pagoda brings an...
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Good luck rub The parks of Xian are lined with sculptures of Tang Dynasty figures. A...
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Herbal Market, Xian Our visit to Xian took us to a herbal market featuring remedies that...
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Dried Sea Horses at Xian's Herbal Market I was amazed at the dried delicacies for sale at Xian's Herbal...
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Coming to light: Xian's terracotta army Over 6,000 life sized soldiers made of pottery guard the tomb of China's...
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In the trenches at Xian The ranks of ancient terracotta soldiers guarding Emporer Qin's...
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Terracotta colors The ranks of terracotta soldiers in Xian's underground chambers once held...
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Pit 1 -- 16,000 meters of history The vast terracotta armies of Emperor Qin occupy several...
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Terracotta Horses Not only have thousand of soldiers been uncovered in the pits surrounding...
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Asleep: terracotta rubble at Xian The massed ranks of Xian's terracotta warriors are impressive, but...
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Smashed Charioteers, Xian Broken terracotta bodies of Emperor Qin's Charioteers still lie...
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Barbeque, Mosque Street, Xian Xian's large Moslem community of 60,000 is centered on Mosque Street -- a...
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Fountains and lights at Xian On summer evenings, Xian illuminates its historic Great Wild Goose...
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In the South Gate, Xian City Wall The interior within Xian's historic South Gate is not...
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Wall of the Dragon, Xian An obligatory ritual of group travel is the "factory" stop, where...
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Mah Jong outside Xian Our group was taken to a small village outside Xian that rarely sees...
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Stares, outside Xian Western visitors are very common in China today, but in some remote villages...
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Catnap in a funeral shop, outside Xian A broken box provides a bed for this cat in a store making funeral...
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Painting Sales coordinator, Hu Xian Our group spent a night in the small village of Hu Xian, a short distance...
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Hand painted, spot by spot, Hu Xian At Hu Xian, young artisans painstakingly hand paint copies of each...
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Perfection in Art, Hu Xian I was struck by the concentration and dedication of the young women...
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Sharing photos with villagers, Hu Xian Our tour group spent a night living with a family in Hu Xian. We ate...
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Crying baby, Hu Xian Getting this young fellow to pose for photographers turned out to be an...
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Farm worker, Hu Xian The family we stayed with in Hu Xian lived in one of its tidy recently built...
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Washing dishes, Hu Xian In the morning light, a Hu Xian teenager does dishes in the old farming village.
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Farmer, Hu Xian This farmer is beginning his day with a cigarette in Hu Xian's old...
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Hard work, Hu Xian Two workers attack a pile of gravel in Hu Xian's old village. The shadows...
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