Martin Li, Chen Yue

    martin.mouse@163.com

    SEVERAL visitors to the ongoing first International Urban Images Festival in Futian District said the event had given them a break from their busy pace of life to visualize Shenzhen’s changes.

    The festival, which opened in Shuiwei urban village Friday evening and will last until Sept. 9, features photo exhibitions of old and new Shenzhen, documentary screenings and lectures by professional photographers.

    “The photos show the beauty of Futian, especially Shuiwei, which we seldom pay attention to in daily life,” a middle-aged woman, Yang, told Shenzhen Daily over the weekend.

    Although she has been living in Shuiwei for 12 years, Yang repeatedly took pictures of the exhibited photos.

    She said she is satisfied with life in Shuiwei — its convenient transportation, wide variety of food and shopping areas.

    Another visitor, Su, said he was impressed by the changes to the village.

    “When I came to live in Shuiwei 10 years ago, there were no concrete roads, nor a public cultural square. There were sewer ditches. People here only spoke Cantonese,” said Su, who is from Chongqing.

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    n central Futian and surrounded by tall buildings, Shuiwei is home to neatly-dotted low apartment buildings. There are schools, parks, wet markets and an assortment of restaurants in the village. While some of its native residents remain there, Shuiwei’s population is dominated by immigrants.

    The photography festival was initiated by the district government. Its theme is: “Images are for recording the city and praising civilization.”

    The festival is part of Futian District’s ongoing campaign to become a “global village” — essentially a push to internationalize itself more.

    “We hope to open a gate linking the urban village to the world with the help of images ... and let our residents know more about the world,” Wu Jing, head of the district’s foreign affairs office, said at Friday’s opening ceremony.

    Detailed schedules of the festival can be acquired at the festival organizer’s WeChat account, 福田国际城区影像节 (in pinyin: “Futian Guoji Cheng Qu Yingxiang Jie”)