Charity photo exhibition to open Friday at Shangra-La Hotel Tianjin

Following the success of last year’s Charity Photo Exhibition, the Shangri-La Hotel Tianjin invited the Scottish photojournalist Bruce Connolly to present another photo exhibition, starting on Friday, June 21 at its Lobby Lounge.

Connolly said he took the legendary tale of Shangri-La as inspiration, displaying about 150 images shot along the Ancient Tea Horse Road from Kunming in Southwest China’s Yunnan province, to Lhasa, capital of the Tibet autonomous region.

His journeys to the region known as Shangri-La in China date back to 1994 and captured scenes of mystical splendor long before these destinations were touched by mass tourism.

“There is a wish for Shangri-La in everyone’s heart…” this line from James Hilton’s 1933 novel, Lost Horizon, is probably even more pertinent today.

Serenity, harmony and inherent beauty are cornerstones of experiencing Shangri-La,” Connolly said.

“I found that during my early adventures in Yunnan and Lhasa, and for many personal reasons I also find it here in Tianjin.”

All proceeds from the photo exhibition will go to Healing Young Hearts, a charity program initiated by the hotel, to help produce and distribute hospital activity packs to children who are undergoing hospital treatment for life-threatening diseases.

Designed to make hospital stays less stressful, each pack contains an activity booklet, crayons, scissors, glue, stickers and a bag.

The story themes help provide children with a positive image of themselves and their medical journey, acknowledging them as brave and determined fighters.

The Shangri-La Hotel, Tianjin established its Embrace project in 2015, working with the Healing Young Hearts volunteer project.

Hotel volunteers visit the local hospital twice a month to distribute the free activity packs, read stories, play games and make handicrafts with the children.