Expatriate photographers visit Pingshan

A dozen expat photographers joined a photo tour to Pingshan District on Wednesday.

During the tour, organized by Shenzhen Daily and eyeshenzhen.com in cooperation with Pingshan Media Center, they visited different sites of traditional culture and modern facilities in Pingshan District, including Nanzhong School, Pingshan Theater, Pingshan Library, Pingshan Art Museum, Dawan Residence and Wenwu Temple.

Photographers pose for a photo with local residents at Dawan Residence, a Hakka-style compound, in Pingshan District on Wednesday. A group of expat photographers visited different sites of traditional culture and modern facilities in Pingshan District. Photos by Liu Xudong

They also watched and experienced kylin dance, a provincial example of intangible cultural heritage.

For most of the expat photographers, this was their first visit to Pingshan and the trip impressed them a lot.

“We, as a photography group, have explored all around Shenzhen for the last four or five years.

“We’ve heard about Pingshan before. Coming here was a real treat. It’s really nice to get out of the city [center] a little bit, but we’re still kind of close,” British photographer Jason Paul Illidge told Shenzhen Daily. This trip provided an opportunity for expats to photograph scenes that they didn’t see every day.

Jason Paul Illidge at Pingshan Library.

“Pingshan is a really interesting place. The trip is really good. This Hakka village [Dawan Residence] is the most impressive place because it’s a little bit older than other places,” said Chilian Francisco José Vergara Undurraga.

Dawan Residence, a Hakka-style residential compound first built in 1763 during the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, enjoys a history of over 250 years. It covers an area of 25,000 square meters.

Dawan Residence also excited Ronny Verdoodt, a photography enthusiast from Belgium. “Like this [tour] today, it steps back into history. And to see how they lived like 250 years ago. It was very nice to see that,” he said. It was the first time for him to participate in a photo walking tour. At the compound, Johann van der Walt from South Africa used a dual-camera setup to capture a 3D action shot of the kylin dance. “The traditional dance was really very beautiful. We really enjoyed that.”

Jeremy David Smith plays drum at Dawan Residence in Pingshan District.

In addition to the ancient village, expat photographers spoke highly of the modern facilities.

One of the highlights of the trip for Jeremy David Smith from Canada was the Pingshan Library. “The library is an amazing building in itself. The architecture and building of the structures are unbelievable. If you see it from afar, it looks like a book with pages slightly opened. You can see that a lot of time, efforts and ingenuity went in to create that,” he said.

Arthur Edward Rash Jr. takes photo at Nanzhong School.

Arthur Edward Rash Jr. from the U.S. found the trip extremely enjoyable. “From a photographic point of view, you have to get away from the MTR stations of Shenzhen, because it has been really commercialized. But when you come to a place like this [Dawan Residence], you see the history and culture, and you see how they try to preserve the buildings like here in Pingshan. This is really cool,” Rash told Shenzhen Daily.

Rash thinks the big plus of being in Shenzhen is that there are many ancient places and villages in Shenzhen that they can go to take photographs and see the way those places used to be. “Even though a lot of people don’t realize it, there are many great places to go and see in Shenzhen.”

Photographers pose for a photo with the sign "Live Pingshan, Live Global"

“This was a huge surprise and an eye opener to us. Pingshan has succeeded in being a true global district while still embracing their heritage with pride. ‘Live Pingshan, Live Global!’” said van der Walt.