A lensman's Chinese odyssey

By Wu Liping (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-05-02 14:40

A slide peep show, known as la yang pian, is a street performance which introduces interesting pictures to the viewers, with the accompaniment of a running commentary by the showman.

Thomson also took a great number of landscape photographs, such as the arched door of the Confucius Temple in Beijing, the ruined temple in the Summer Palace and the stone sculptures in the Ming Tombs.

"The images present a part of Chinese history whose traces are hard to find," says Shelagh Lester-Smith, who works at a courtyard hotel in Beijing, while visiting the exhibition.

Like many foreigners, Lester-Smith says she has great interest in traditional ways of life in China.

"Today's Beijing is a very modern city, similar to any Western metropolis. Thomson's photographs feature unusual and rare scenes," she says.

After the Beijing debut, the exhibition will travel to Fujian Museum, Guangzhou Museum and Dongguan Exhibition Center. A show at the Liverpool Museum, UK, is on the cards.

Time: 9 am-5 pm, until May 18

Place: Beijing World Art Museum, China Millennium Monument, A9 Fuxinglu, Haidian district, 5980-2222

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