Factory 798, Hot Pot, And Camera Heaven

Hello everyone!

I have only a short entry here. In December an Australian friend of mine named Darren, who was an exchange student at Waterloo from University of Queensland, in Brisbane, came to Beijing for a couple of weeks on behalf of his American-based company. While he was here, we did a bunch of things together.

Factory 798

Firstly, we took a trip to Beijing's haven of modern Chinese art, Factory 798. The Factory is a complex of buildings in which local artists acted as squatters for to prevent the destruction of the buildings during Beijing's effort to modernise. The Factory now houses some of the most interesting and exciting art in China. Six of us (Cheryl, Darren, Jeanette, Llana, Sherlyn, and I) took a day-trip on 09 December 2006 to see what all the fuss was about.

The black-rimmed photos were taken by Darren, who's a bit of a photography buff. He's got an interesting array of cameras which he brings with him on his trips and he showed us how some of the more obscure ones work. The black-rimmed photos below were taken by Darren with his camera.

Interestingly enough, although the normal Chinese term for defaecating involves 'pulling bowels', the Chinese in the sign below ('Please don't pull the bowels') doesn't contain that term. I especially like the moustache and facial expression on the pile of yellow poo.

Interesting mural

Darren photographing Cheryl photographing me photographing Darren ...

Six brave adventurers: Sherlyn, Jeanette, Darren, Cheryl, me, and Llana

Mote it be?

Hot Pot
Later that evening, a group of us went for hot pot and a full-body massage, and much fun was had by all. :)

Before

After

Camera City
On the following Day, Darren and I took a trip to a mall which services camera buffs. Darren wanted to see whether he could find a good deal while he was in Beijing, and I thought I'd like to take advantage of being able to go with a friendly aficionado and learn a bit more about photography.

Me and the Colour Checker in front of the camera city

Darren and the Colour Checker in front of the camera city

Me and Darren, with no Colour Checker in sight