This morning we head north towards Longsheng County to visit the famed long-haired red Yao tribe and the Longji rice terraces. There are about 80 households of red Yao minority tribe in Huangluo Village also known as “Long Hair Village”. The Yao ethnic minority are divided into several branches with the Red Yao who favor … Continue reading Huangluo Red Yao Village Apr 2019
What attracted me to Yangshuo was not just the idyllic scenery, in fact I came here mainly to photograph the cormorant fishermen. Cormorant fishing was once a successful local industry but sadly it is no longer economical to fish this way. Besides fishing is not allowed on most parts of the Li River now under … Continue reading Cormorant Fishermen Apr 2019
There is a famous Chinese saying that “Guilin has the finest landscape under the sky, and the landscape in Yangshuo is the most beautiful in Guilin”. It is in reference to the rare kind of karst scenery here where it is a combination of karst mountains, green hills, rivers, and caves, resembling a beautiful Chinese … Continue reading Yangshuo Guilin Apr 2019
If you are in Naoshima, a side trip to the neighboring Teshima island is highly recommended. We took a 20-minute ferry ride from Miyanoura Port of Naoshima to Ieura Port of Teshima. At the heart of the island is the Teshima Art Museum that is designed by architect Ryue Nishizawa and artist Rei Naito to … Continue reading Teshima May 2018
All the art sites of Naoshima mentioned in my previous post are located on the southern coast of the island. There are some more art installations near Miyanoura Port on the western side and in the fishing village of Honmura on the eastern side of the island. Other than the yellow pumpkin near Benesse House, … Continue reading Naoshima Part 2 May 2018
I have wanted to visit the art island Naoshima for many years already and finally this year I was organized enough to book the only proper hotel on the island over 5 months ahead. Naoshima is an island located in the Seto Inland Sea of Japan. The island used to be just a Mitsubishi metals … Continue reading Naoshima Part 1 May 2018
Otagi Nenbutsu Temple outside of Arashiyama houses a collection of 1,200 whimsical statues representing the disciples of Buddha called rakans. Kocho Nishimura, the head priest of the temple in 1955, who was also a master sculptor decided to instruct devotees to carve their own statues. Since these stone rakans were carved by amateurs, each statue … Continue reading Kyoto: Otagi Nenbutsu-ji May 2018
