A Chongqing photo portfolio; a work-in-progress.
- Scenes from spring commencement with students posing proudly in front of the library or leaping for joy by the iconic “Book of Law” at Southwest University of Political Science and Law remind us that, in spite in spite of a 9,000 mile, 12-hour time shift, political tensions, trade wars and saber-rattling, we are all more alike than we are different.
- On a campus walk with my first cohort of students from Southwest University of Political Science and Law. A silly selfie with my “Fab Five,” left to right, Zhou Chua Young, Shirley, Wei Peng, Mona, and Miully. Are we having fun yet?
- By dawn’s early light, out my hotel window overlooking a gloomy campus at Southwest University of Political Science and Law in Chongqing, home to 20,000 students.
- Known as Chungking during WWII when it was China’s wartime capital city, the present day Chongqing is a bustling river metropolis of 7 million at the confluence of the mighty Yangtze and Jialing Rivers. On a lovely spring evening, the city lights shine festively on the riverfront where the bridge I photographed during construction three years ago glows like a Christmas tree.
- A family portrait of my host Prof. Li Ren, his wife and children Alice, 9; and Emily, 4, tries to capture the moment. Gazing out over the water, Prof. Li, children in his arms, tells me, “30 years ago, there was only a steel cable across the river.” For ferries, I’m guessing? Yes, he nods, silently. This bursting-at-the-seams city has come that far that fast. As has China. Think of it, only a steel cable. And just look at it now.