Author: Steve Barru
Photographer, bookworm, traveler, born in the United States in 1949, left the United States in 1987, spent years in China, settled in Vietnam in 2016.
Bananas for Sale, Hanoi
Cigarette Break, Hanoi
Red Flag, Yellow Star, Hanoi
The building in the background is the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long, part of the imperial structures that served as the capital of Dai Viet from the 11th to the 18th century. The building, very much in a Chinese style, is in the center of Hanoi. The boys in their bright tee shirts with a yellow star against a red background – the Vietnamese national flag – were part of a coed group of 20ish kids, I presume a university class on an outing. All of the boys were wearing the red tees. I rather liked the contrast: young people wearing the symbol of modern, socialist Vietnam against a traditional background representing the country’s imperial past.
Wedding Photo Shoot, Hanoi
The workmen on the right walking and talking through the wedding photo shoot made for an amusing scene. Why the photographer has the happy couple standing so far apart is a question I cannot answer. The old government buildings that are the backdrop for the shoot are lovely.
City Bus, Beijing
Strut Your Stuff, Dude! Beijing
Guozijian, Beijing
The old imperial college (guozijian / 国子监) and Beijing’s Confucius temple are along this gorgeous tree-lined street. The site of occasional horn-honking traffic jams, the street is nonetheless reasonably peaceful most of the time. I had peace, quiet, and a truly beautiful, blue-sky Beijing day for my visit. The banner – almost impossible to translate into anything but stilted English – says something like “the sacred locale of the national academy, bringing virtue to the entire world”.
Congested Sanlitun, Beijing
Deal the Cards! Beijing
