Photographers ‘roll’ through city

DESPITE cold weather and occasional drizzle last Sunday afternoon, westerners and Chinese randomly explored the city by riding two bus routes, rolling dice to determine how many stops before getting off, taking photos for 15 minutes, then getting back on a bus and gambling what the next site would be..

When it was all over, they exchanged stories and photos of the streets, gardens, buildings, shop windows, trees and leaves, peddlers and whatever had caught their fancy at dinner time.
It was a Diceman Bus Tour organized by LENZ, a no-charge association of people interested in sharing culture and photography.

LENZ President Douglas Gillespie, a Canadian who has lived in Zhuhai for more than two years, called it a great way to discover Zhuhai. “We see it as we pass by on the bus, on our way to some busy, scheduled destinations. We don’t have time to get off the bus and walk into the gardens along the roads. So this is what we really thought about -- getting a closer look. Just stop, pause for a moment and see what’s around. You’ll be amazed at the things you look upon,” he said. “The bottom line is people come together and have fun, and this gives us an opportunity to see the Zhuhai we’ve never seen before,” he added.
More than a dozen people met at the Jiuzhou Town Bus Stop, Jida, at 2:30pm and split into two groups, one containing seven photographers taking the 13 bus and the other, the 20 bus.

The 13 bus passes through Shuiwan Road, South Lovers Avenue, Gongbei to New Yuanming Palace, while the 20 bus runs through Jingshan Road, to Renmin Hospital, Ningxi Road to Cuihuayuan Residential Area, Qianshan.

Douglas, along with David Blough, an American who came to Zhuhai seven months ago and is president of Red Moon LLC, a manufacturing consultant company; David’s friend Yue Hong; Stephen Rocard, an Australian visiting a friend in Zhuhai; Stephen’s friend Stephanie; Peter Wang, a returned overseas Chinese; and Cindy Liu, a teacher of English with Beijing Institute of Technology Zhuhai, formed the 13ers.

Doc Tempest, LENZ vice president and an Australian who has lived in Zhuhai for two years; his wife, Janine Kruse from Hamburg, Germany; Charles Lin, an IT employee from Jiangxi Province, and Micky Xu, an office staff with a foreign-invested company, embarked on their tour on the 20 bus route.

On the 13 bus route, two stops were decided by rolling the dice for the first time. The seven photographers got off at North Shuiwan Road, Jida, and began “hunting” separately. Douglas caught a glimpse of a stainless steel structure at the roadside and rushed to it. Stephen and Stephanie stood by the nearby trees, taking pictures of traffic. Meanwhile, David showed interest in a residential building, and he said he might buy an apartment there.

Around 15 minutes later, the photographers, whether taking photos with cameras or cell phones, came back to the bus stop for the next leg. The time for photography was short, “It motivates you though to get the job done, because we want to see more of Zhuhai,” Douglas said.

On the other route, Doc and Janine were taking pictures of trees and layers of leaves along the roadside of Ningxi. Because of the long-lasting frigid weather, the green leaves actually froze and they fell off, though it is spring now.

“When you get off at the bus stop, you might catch things that look interesting or exciting, see what you can find that sets your photographic soul on fire, and decide what makes it interesting or characteristic for people,” Doc said. “That’s the way an artist works,” he added.

They stopped at a strawberry peddler at Ningxi Culture Square, took photos of him and bought strawberries. They also walked onto a construction site near Ningxi and showed great interest in the workers’ lodging. The bare hillside on which there are random curves and lines and the vista between two adjacent buildings also aroused their interest. Doc and Micky walked into a stone shop while Janine took photos of cobblestones in a box outside. Doc watched a worker welding a structure of security bars in the open and commented, “It’s not safe without taking any protection measures.”

The 20ers group took pictures of a kindergarten at the bus terminal in Gongbei, the trees outside and a vegetable garden nearby. Having run out of stick memory, Doc had nothing to do but watch his teammates take photos.

“It’s a different way to get to know Zhuhai. It is much more than just taking photos. For example, there are so may leaves on the road and we may just walk on and ignore them. But today, it makes me realize something that I failed to do before,” Charles said.

The two groups met at a restaurant late in the evening, sharing the shots they had made and deciding on the prize winner. Stephen won a prize -- a dinner for free -- as he took the best photo with a mobile phone -- a puzzling kid from behind an ad sign on the street.

As an organizer, Douglas said he was satisfied with the turnout and even the weather was fine for photography. “It’s fun to get out of the house. I’m glad I did it rather than staying at home, sitting at my computer,” Peter said.

“Pictures have context, either positive or negative. It’s documentary. It’s China now,” Doc said.

“It’s a haven. You can see everything here. It’s a very diverse city,” Douglas said.

“You can see why Zhuhai is the happiest city in China. People appear to be happy. They look happy,” Doc stressed.

The vision of LENZ is to use the art and science of photography to facilitate meaningful cultural exchange between foreign and Chinese friends, Douglas explained.