China – PHOTOS OF HUMAN PERSPECTIVES

Hongkong life

Jonny Allegra — Fri, 09 Feb 2018 20:31:59 +0000

Anyone who wants to experience the fascination of shimmering metropolises cannot avoid to visit Hong Kong. The city welcomes its visitors with a unique skyline that drops straight down to the shores of Kowloon Bay and is also framed by a terrific primeval forest nature. If you dive into the city, you will be excited by a gigantic firework display of state-of-the-art architecture, the most colourful cultural events and endless shopping oases. Hong Kong is also one of the world’s best culinary capitals, combining a wide variety of cooking traditions and delicacies. Be it Cantonese, Japanese, French or Italian, the creativity leaves no gastronomic wishes unsatisfied and truly overflows with an exuberant offer.

The impressions of Hong Kong are enormous and it is difficult to process the sensory input on the eyes, ears and tongue. Endless walks and much time we spent in Hong Kong’s many charming quarters to discover just a little of this urban character. It seems that transformation is the only constant in this place and that an endless energy and dynamic force continues the development of these formerly fishing villages. The history in this place tells about it’s colourful heritage and gives a little view into the stories of powerful clans, marauding pirates or European traders, who shaped this city.

IMPRESSION:

>>> WIKITRAVEL HONGKONG

Tibet – Roof of the world

Jonny Allegra — Wed, 10 May 2017 19:34:42 +0000

With every curve, the dark valley incisions opened up more and more and increasingly we saw the glitter of the sun light on the snow-covered mountain peaks. After hours on bumpy roads, the long-awaited view of the Tibetan Highlands finally opened up above 4000 metres. A unique landscape of arid and often colourful mountain hills, stony plains and river courses stretched out for hundreds of kilometres. Fascinated, our eyes wandered along the apparently endless deep blue sky, creating a feeling of being removed from the earth. The size of this mountain world is difficult to understand for us human and even photos can only express a small part of what we felt while looking around this breathtaking high plateau.

The journey followed the classic route via Tingri and Shigatse to Lhasa, which is the ultimate destination of every pilgrim and tourist. Passing mountains and lakes, villages and people, we observed with respect the hard life of Tibetan nomads and farmers. How could we understand even a tiny part of Tibet’s secrets without thinking about the people’s motivation or exploring their perspective of the world. We never had seen such a foreign culture, these deep respect for religion in every building, plant or animal. Waving prayer flags over the houses, prayer wheels on the walls, symbolic stupas and red-coloured temple buildings with roofs of shining gold. The singularity of this environment gave the surroundings something inexplicable and emblematic. Although any effort of sensless comprehension, the memory of what we have seen anchored itself deep in the soul.

IMPRESSION

>>> LONELYPLANET TIBET

Book: Hidden China – Alessandra Meniconzi

Jonny Allegra — Thu, 23 Mar 2017 18:37:18 +0000

This illustrated book takes the reader to the most isolated areas of China and shows a world far away from the big metropolises, an almost forgotten world where people still live their traditional lives nearly untouched. With her sensitive manner, Alessandra Meniconzi succeeds to enter areas of life that until a few decades ago often remained closed to travelers and other photographers. Thus she is a guest in the tents of nomads, learns about the hard daily life of rice farmers and experiences spiritual ceremonies in Buddhist monasteries. Knowledgeable and lively texts by travel journalist Bertram Job complete the broad picture of traditional China, which will probably no more exist in this way in a few years.

>> Alessandra Meniconzi