Li Dan

debra_lidan@163.com

IF you ask an expat to name a few things about Chinese culture, he or she might think of Chinese painting, calligraphy and Beijing opera.

Part of the 15th Creative December in Nanshan District, an event held at Qiu-xiange Building in Shenzhen Talent Park on Saturday gave guests a few more tastes of Chinese culture.

Organized by Shenzhen Publishing Group, the event invited artists to perform on guqin and zheng, sing an excerpt from Kunqu opera “The Peony Pavilion,” and recite a poem by late Chinese author Lu Yao.

The central part of the event is an exhibition of photography works that capture the rare beauty of nature and cities of China, which have appeared in “Hi, I’m China,” a geography book compiled by the Institute for Planets and published by CITIC Press.

Taking in 365 stunning photos, the book has three chapters respectively introducing China’s western and central regions and east coast according to their different geographical features and historical backgrounds. Unlike previous geography books, it weaves history organically into the introduction, giving readers a big-picture look at the past and presenting some Chinese cities as well as lesser-known natural wonders in the country.

Many of the photos on exhibit at the park were taken by Huang Qili, an expert in energy and mines and a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. His job has taken him to the less-traveled areas of China, where he captured the beauty of the wilderness with his camera. In his photos, we see the splendid Milky Way, a farmer wearing a bamboo hat leading his yellow cattle through the woods in the morning fog and the striking scenes of an outdoor iron mine.

Zhang Yuan, a signed photographer with National Geographic Magazine, has a photo of Zhouning County, Fujian Province at the exhibition. Shot from an angle close to the surface of a stream in 2011, the photo captures carps jumping and frolicking in the clear water against the background of an ancient village where everything remains unchanged from 800 years ago.

“Sometimes I feel compelled to take photos of a subject because I know that it will disappear sooner or later,” Zhang said. “In that way, the photos become part of history.”

Hu Yeqiu, a local scholar, quoted a well-known line from Ming artist Dong Qichang (1555-1636) that goes, “Read a thousand books and walk a thousand miles.” To understand a place, he said, you have to know its past and present as well as other places related to it. Hu also encouraged people to take time out to explore more of the city they live in.

Shenzhen-based fashion designer Zhao Huizhou, who brought her Italian designers to the event, said people in Western countries got to know many Chinese traditions through the Japanese. “There are a lot of hidden treasures in Chinese culture and territories,” she said. “We need to learn about them and tell the world about them.”

The free photography exhibition will last until Thursday.