China in May...

I have the opportunity to go to China in May (please, please, please

don't let SARS outbreak like last year) and have a few concerns.

 

As usual, I'm paranoid about airports and X-ray difficulties with

film. I was hoping to shoot with Fuji NPH/NPZ while I was there.

Can I request a hand check of my film in China? If not, is there

any chance of developing my film while there, or should I try to

Fedex it home? I don't know what kind of facilities/equipment are

commonly available in China. This is the first major trip I've

undertaken and am slightly paranoid of losing all my shots.

 

The two major sights I anticipate having difficulties with

photographing are the Forbidden City and Taishan (sp?) mountain. At

the Forbidden City, is flash photography allowed inside?

 

The other problem is Taishan mountain. Apparently, once you climb

to the top, and stay the night, you wake up the next morning early

enough to watch the sun rise. All you can see are clouds, and the

sun comes poking up through them. I've never tried photographing

anything like this before. How do I meter for something like this?

 

 

Thanks in advance,

 

 

Colin

Hi Colin

 

When I was there in 2002 they weren't doing excessive x-raying of films and none of mine (exposed or not exposed) had any problems. I have read that it's only film of ISO 1000 (I think, no doubt some one will correct me if I'm wrong) and higher that you can have problems with, so I'm pretty sure you'll be fine. As for requesting a hand check, I'd say that unless you speak Mandarin you might struggle to get your message across.

 

Flash photography wasn't allowed in most places like the Forbidden city, the Temple of heaven etc and in some temples photography is forbidden altogether (but very few). On the plus side, you are allowed to use a tripod in some places e.g. the Shanghai Museum (I wish I'd known beforehand)and at the Terracotta warriors in Xian which allows you to get great shots in low light. If you're trying to photograph the interiors at the Forbidden city you'll probably struggle with a tripod because of the HUUUGGE crowds.

 

Something else to bear in mind being there in May is that there is a major public holiday in May (sorry I can't remember the date or occasion off the top of my head - it may be the anniversary of the founding of the PRC)and I was told first hand by a traveller who was there at this time that trying to visit any attraction was impossible because of the incredible crowds of Chinese enjoying the holiday. Do a bit of research as this may not be a problem depending where you are in China at the time. Just something to bear in mind, that's all.

 

I'll be interested to see what advice you get for Taishan mountain.

 

Regards

Bevan

Thanks Bevan! I'll try to find what the holiday is. I don't speak any mandarin and only a touch of cantonese (to the chagrin of my family) but a few people on the trip do, so I should be okay.

 

Seeing as I can't use a flash, and I read elsewhere that telephoto lenses aren't overly useful in China (can't see far enough through fog and haze) I will likely bring a 50mm f/1.8 and possibly a 28 mm prime as well. On a monopod, will this give me enough light to shoot, or am I going to need faster film? I can't see myself wanting to carry a tripod around all the sites, but maybe a monopod.

 

To take photos at the top of Taishan mountain, I'll go do some research about taking pictures of sunrises/sunsets.

 

 

Thanks,

 

Colin

May 1st is the Labor Day holiday in China, and most people in the country have an extended holiday for the first week to 10 days in May, which is also the time the government promotes tourism, with many festivals around the country. So I would definitely avoid going there during the first week of May - just think if only 1% of the population decides to travel - that's more than 10 million people on the road and at tourist attractions. there could be more people than trees on the Taisan Mountain ;) the Forbidden City would be packed.

Colin,

I hope that I have some usefull advice for you. I will be departing for a six month stay

in both Beijing and Xi'an in about two weeks. I have traveled to China before and all

that you have to do is to carry a roll of 3200 TMax and show it to them and they will

hand check all of you film. Also, most of the people who work in the major

international airports (such as Beijing) will have enough english for you to explain

that you need your film hand checked, just say that its faster than 1000 (if im not

mistaken non of the fuji pro films have the iso in large lettering on the canister)

 

I'm not sure about what kind of processing facilities they have there, I'm going to

have to figure this one out myself.

 

-Evan

Jason, I just checked my itinerary. Our "tour leader" must have taken the holiday into account, since we arrive May 10th in Beijing. I'm morbidly curious as to what a crowd which dwarfs any I've seen in my life would look like....

 

Evan, thanks for the great idea! I'll definitely tuck a high speed roll into the bag. I've still got a roll or two of Delta3200 kicking around somewhere. It's nice to know they take it into consideration. Otherwise, I'd have to go looking at digital cameras again. Desperately trying to avoid that.

 

My research into sunrises/sunsets has told me to bracket, then bracket again. No magic formula, so I guess I'll allocate a couple rolls of film for this.

 

Out of curiousity, does anybody know why a silk factory in Suzhou would be famous enough to be a tourist attraction? We're supposed to go, but it's a much different type of attraction than I would expect than, say, the Great Wall or Forbidden City.

 

 

 

Colin

Hello again Colin

 

Something else I thought of is the mass of bland, grey skies/backgrounds that you'll mainly have at that time of year. Now in the month I was there we probably had blue skies for about 3days . Given you're using colour negative film my advice would be to take a graduated grey or neutral density filter to darken the grey sky/background (there are times when you can't avoid them)and also evening out the scene for the metering. As you're probably aware, the overcast conditions can cause your cameras meter to overexpose.

 

Also, if I were you I'd definately take the telephoto lens. I traveled with a 75-300 that I had at the time and it saw plenty of use. This and my 28-70 were the main lenses I used. China is such a fascinating place the photographic oppotunities are just endless.

 

As for Suzhou, it's supposed to be famous for it's silk, it's canals and the fact that Marco Polo traveled there and wrote about it. It's not a bad place but to be honest wasn't my no 1 place visited on that trip. Basically the canals have mostly been concreted over and are heavily polluted and silk is just not one of those things I'm really into. Make sure you eat at the local restaurants. As with the whole country the food is just fantastic, cheap and prefectly safe. One place I particularly enjoyed was the "Panmen Gate" which is a relatively small temple complex which still has part of the old city wall around parts of it. That's if you're not too "templed out" as some people can get.

 

Have an awesome trip

 

Bevan

late reply but for whatever it is worth...

 

you'd better off buying postcards in forbidden city than trying to take photos without flash light. a tripod is in general allowed but you won't get very far with lots people. you need a special permit to photograph most temples inside but then other photographers have already done that and you can now buy the pastcards. :-)

 

metering sunrise from Taishan is no different from any sunrise pictures. the key is to NOT overexpose the frame. find a spot on the sky that is close to 18% grey and meter that. either use AE to lock the exposure or use manual feature to set the exposure based on the metering and simply shoot. If you do slides, make sure you bracket at least one frame over and under. Use a TRIPOD.

 

The best places to visit as far as culture and photo op is concerned is the northwest or southwest. but guess you will be pretty far away from there so I won't keep talking then.

 

china is a beautiful place to visit and the people are nice for the most part. enjoy the trip.

I just came back from a wild ride around Asia thats includes China. Beautiful

country! Answers to your questions :

1. X-rays and airports.

Answer: No problem as long they are not more than 1000, you can pass

throught. Yes you can request if you are still not convinced, but the

explanation process to the officers takes time.

 

2. Facilities and equipmensts:

Answers :The Chinese are keen photographers themself, so dont worry about

facilities and equipment. The questions they're work quality and commitment.

But you can go to some bigger lab and in Beijing they definately have pro-

labs. I develope mind in Yunnan and Sichuan, they did a great job!

Make sure they get the job done on time, like before you flight departs. Had a

few experience on this. They will take your rolls first, and later they'll execuse

like they are working on it, and no power, other silly stuffs, only to realized

they have no man power, or the only guy does this is away, and the best yet,

the dont even do this kinds of process, so they are out looking for someone

can do ! But if you are using C-41,no problem.

 

3. Forbidden City And Flashes:

Answer: Knock yourself out ! Bring your strobes and studios lights along too !

But you cant enter some of the rooms, so you just have to view it from the front

door. Its a good idea, you dont want the tourist to go in and sit on those

ancient throne and make a mokery of it.

 

4. Taishan mountain:

Answer: U could, or trust you camera. Yes, the cloud is a problem, and rain

too. Its always misty in and really cold in the early morning. You could carry a

tripod with you. But the thing is are you going to hike all the way up, or taking

a easier mode of transport. If you decided to start from the bottom. Travel light,

seriously travel light. Its the steps, those steps are killers.

 

Well, have fun. If you want to see China at the extreme, the real exciting

places are in the western region of the country, Your shutters wont stop

shutting.

Entrance to Taishan cable car

Edited June 23, 2017 by MTC Photography

 

Gate of Southern Sky

Edited June 23, 2017 by MTC Photography

Ultimate Peak

1500 meter above sea level