Limited access in China to photo.net

[sunwei]

<p>China has about 25% of the world's population and this is reflected in the number of amateur and

professional photographers. The China Photography Society is the most prestigious photography

organisation in China , but because China is so vast there are many provincial photography societies, only

very few are open to foreigners, most are controlled by the Communist Party. I was refused membership of the

Shaanxi Fine Art Photography Society in Xi'an as I was the only foreigner who had applied , the committee feared it

would set a precident allowing a foreigner access, also what if I were to publish a shocking photo? So my two year

wait to be considered was in vain.<br>

<strong>FACEBOOK is blocked in China</strong> and has been so for about two years now. As a result I

cannot post this announcement on the ph

[Matt Laur]

<p>Ah, political humor.</p>

[starvy]

<p>How did it get posted from China is access is blocked?</p>

[denniswilliams]

<p>There are reasons other than your being British to not admit you in their club. I would not worry about it. Maybe they didn't find your work more than generic or thought the bio written in the third person incredibly annoying. I would imagine telling someone no due to citizenship seems less abusive, just as modeling agencies regularly reject models officially due to height rather than for being unattractive. </p>

[michael_dimarzio]

<p>Maybe you should have bought a Leica instead of a Contax? But was Dennis alluding that your rejection was due to your height?</p>

[Palouse]

<blockquote>

<p>". . the committee feared it would set a precident allowing a foreigner access, . . ."</p>

</blockquote>

<p>It happened here--we let one in, and then we had to let everybody in!</p>

[steve_lantz]

<p>I'm sorry you didn't realize communist China isn't a hotbed of democracy and openness before you moved there. </p>

[sunwei]

<p>In fact, the members of the Shaanxi Fine Art Photography Society were most kind and helpful to me. They like my photography and have invited me to attend their meetings. I attended one meeting and it was quite a lavish affair, by comparison with English standards. For example, there were two beautiful models , a presentation by Olympus, a band and a magician , all in one evening!<br>

Thank you for your comments , I love the Western wit and sarcasm!<br>

FACEBOOK- its blocked here, at least where I live in Xi'an , one explanation I received was it was riddled with nasty viruses, so it is a means of protection. It would be nice if members of PHOTONET were aware of the limits in communications here in China.</p>

[jpo3136b]

<p>We've been trying to find a way to block the bad stuff on Facebook here, but people keep uploading their opinions.</p>

[david_henderson]

<p>You know I'm not terribly ancient, but I remember well growing up in a house without a telephone, and without a television till I was about 7 years old. This wasn't because we were especially poor- everyone was the same. People used to go to news cinemas to find out what was going on and you got private news in letters. Communication was clearly far different from today, but it happened and the world turned. So whilst I understand that being in China isn't like being in London or Chicago or wherever, its not so far behind when you consider where we've come from.</p>

<p>Incidentally I was in Xi'an just a few months ago. We could call home from our hotel , and cellphones worked. Lots of people seemed to have cellphones and the streets were teeming with traffic. I recall using Photo.net when I was there. The one thing that I found really strange was that with a very large number of western tourists, we had to eat in our hotel because we couldn't find an external restaurant with an English (or french or whatever) menu translation and in most places they quite probably didn't understand the question. No judgments made on this, I guess we were just a bit surprised in the context that there were zillions of english speaking guides, and staff in the hotels.</p>

[sunwei]

<p>My childhood was much the same as yours I think , but we did have a black & white TV, I recall we had to thump it often as there was a wide black band that rolled up and down. Talking about TV, my psychology prof Steve Duck (bless him!) at Lancaster Uni, was reatained by the BBC (Beeb) for about 30 years as a propaganda consultant making the news more plausable.<br>

A belated welcome to Xi'an! Yes, in the fours years I've camped here the traffic has become intense, mostly people buy their cars, not on HP , but with cash here! If you are planning to mosy about here agin some day, I'll help you find somewhere to get good food, particularly as I am a gourmet . incidently, the worse place for cusine I've come across was in Kunming, though the dog meat was okay.</p>

[MichaelChang]

<p>Colin, I think learning Mandarin and Cantonese will go a long way.</p>

[sunwei]

<p>Dear David Henderson,<br>

I gave a rather curt response to this, but it appears to have gone astray. Re: your puzzlement at the apparent lack of restaurants , at least outside your hotel in Xi'an, where English is spoken.<br>

Well, in fact very, very few people in Xi'an speak English, or any other language other than Mandarin, however there are quite a few who can read and write in another language.<br>

Xi'an has been likened to the 'wild west' , its a strange backwater place where the main occupations include : playing poker , mahjong and dancing dia yunga.</p>

[sunwei]

<p>Dear Michael Chang,<br>

do you honestly believe that foreigners can learn Cantonese? i DON'T THINK SO! My wife Zhang Huixia from Xi'an can only count to 10 in Cantonese and despite many trips to Hong Kong we are still baffled at its complexity. As for learning Mandarin, I concur that this is 'how ju ee' ! There are several schools in Xi'an where Mandarin is being taught to students and business people. I recall that I met a rather cautious and worried Japanese business lady who was having 1:1 private tuition in Mandarin in her hotel room. She honestly believed all Chinese people in Xi'an are 'showtoos' , or 'chiswires' , or both and rarely left the hotel. </p>

[MichaelChang]

<p>Colin, just to prove you wrong... :)<br>

<a href="

[MichaelChang]

<p>BY the way, every one of the foreigners in the clip speak better Cantonese than I do.</p>

<p>The clip is about the 1500 or so Italians living in HK and life for them in 'Little Italy". Imagine that, an Italian shop keeper in HK selling Pastas!</p>

[robert_k1]

<p>Thanks for the clip, Michael. I also like Part 1.<br>

<p>In Part 2, the first Cantonese speaker is an Indian, not Italian. They are all excellent, and can easily be mistaken as native Cantonese. The Italian's use of hands is his only give away "accent" :-)</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>Imagine that, an Italian shop keeper in HK selling Pastas!</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Let's see. Marco Polo "stole" the recipe from China, and his countrymen return centuries later to sell the products back to the natives. Global commerce at its best?</p>

[michael_dimarzio]

<p>Thank you for your comments , I love the Western wit and sarcasm!<br>

__________________________________________________________</p>

<p>It's great to be a good sport, thanks for playing. Good luck with Cantonese!</p>