China through the lens (2)

Email|Print|Comments       twitter     facebook     Sina Microblog     reddit    

Prize-winning photographer Liu Heung Shing is presenting his solo show China Dream, Thirty Years, in Shanghai, offering a look back over his photojournalism career and the country's transformation since the 1970s. (China Daily/Gao Erqiang)

Liu was born in 1951 and spent most of his childhood in Fujian province before moving to Hong Kong. When studying at the City University of New York, he read extensively about China, comparing what he read with his impressions from childhood.

Upon graduation, his enthusiasm about China led him back to the country as a journalist.

His first assignment in China as a photographer took place in 1976. He didn't receive permission to go to Beijing to photograph the mourning for Chairman Mao's passing, so he stayed in Guangzhou, but he was sensitive enough to find traces of a society ready to change.

"People practiced tai chi in the park as usual, but their shoulders looked somehow relaxed, slightly different,"Liu recalls.

In 1978 he started to work as the founder and reporter for Time magazine's Beijing office.

He was impressed with the prevalence of political intervention in everyday life.

We Recommend

• Air Forces arrive at designated area to join China-Russia drill
  
• China’s weekly story (2013.7.27-8.2)
• Top 25 museums in the world in 2013
• National Geographic Traveler 2013 Photo Competition
• Autumn begins, not in terms of temperatures
• Photo story: Will Wulin gain its former fame