Archive for the 'Photography' Category



Last Day of Beitang 2011
So, every time the last day of term rolls around I take my camera into class and take some photos of / with the kids. I like to have something to help me remember the good times we have. The Summer term of 2011 at Beitang was no different…

Beitang Children's Day 2011
So, June 1st in China is children’s day. A holiday to celebrate…well, Children I guess. It seems pretty tough for the kids actually. They have to sing and dance and perform under pressure. But, they’re in the spotlight and they’ll often get some gifts from their school on the day – so, it’s all good I guess. Here are some pics from 2011’s Children’s day celebrations at Beitang. Many of these kids are my students past of present.

Beitang Sports Day 2011
So, every summer Beitang holds a sports day. In 2011 there were two. They have the usual sports day for the school, then there is an inter-school sports day for all of the schools in Weinan. In 2011 it was Beitang’s turn to play host. None of the sports were particularly ‘serious’ sports, but some of the various school’s PE teachers were taking it quite seriously…

Xi'an International Horicultural Expo 2011
So, back in May of 2011 the International Horticultural Expo opened in Xi’an. Right off the bat, I’ll be honest – I have little to no interest in flowers or plants. But, it was just a stone’s throw away from me, and everybody was talking about it. So, myself, Beryl and Winfred headed there armed with our cameras…

Beryl in Xinjiang - May 2011
So, every May myself and Beryl celebrate May Day by jumping on a plane and going on a 5 day holiday. In ’09 we went to Luoyang, In ’10 we went to Qingdao and last year we headed to Urumiqi in Xinjiang province. Xinjiang is the most north-westerly province in China. It borders lots of countries including Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. 45% of the population are also Uyghur. A minority of Turkish-speaking Chinese who are mostly Sunni Muslims. The whole area is a totally different side of China. Here are some photos from our holiday…

Easter at Aston - 2011
Ah, the wonders of being almost a year behind with my blog. Things I post about from last year are almost relevant again! Like today’s post; Easter! So, at Aston we like the kids to “celebrate” the western holidays to try and absorb some of our culture. We don’t go into the details…well, in fact, we don’t even tell them anything about the holiday’s religious roots. They just think it’s a holiday about eating chocolate and painting eggs. Well, not too far off…

Flora - April 2011
This is a snap of my god-daughter taken last year in April. She’s so cute! Her English name is Flora. There are some more photos here.

Beitang - April 2011 Beitang - April 2011 Beitang - April 2011
So, those familiar with the blog will know about Beitang Primary School. It’s the primary school that I teach at when I’m not teaching at Aston. Chinese primary schools are very different to their western counter parts. Firstly as the left-most photo shows. There are a lot of students. A lot. Each grade has 7-8 classes. Each class has 60-70 students. And that’s “small” class-sizes. Beitang is one of the best primary schools, it’s “proud” of that class size. Anyway, there are 6 grades in primary school, so conservatively thats 6*7*60 … more than 2,500 students! My primary school (Hayes Meadow Primary School, represent!) The other two pictures also highlight differences, read on for more…

BBQ Street, Weinan, Shaanxi, China - March 2011
So, after wrapping shooting of mine and Beryl’s post-engagement photos, we all headed to BBQ street for some much needed food and drink. Camera still in hand, I took some snaps. Above you can see oil being liberally applied with a paint brush…You’ll either have to trust me that it tastes great, or come out here and try for yourself…

Lantern Festival 2011 - Weinan, Shaanxi, China
Two blog posts in 24hrs!!! Get in! So far this is like all good new year’s resolutions: starts great…then… well, lets see how often you all are going to the gym in a few weeks, shall we? Anyway… back to the matter at hand. Lantern festival! It’s a festival that takes place 15 days after Chinese New Year and… well, I’m sure Wikipedia can tell you the boring stuff. These days people just set off LOADS of fireworks. It’s like bonfire night (if you’re in the UK) or the 4th of July (if you’re in the states) combined with new years. After a few hours of Lantern Festival, you have a good idea what it must have been like in Baghdad, circa 2003…