Heavenly couple
(Wedding photos at the Temple of Heaven: Beijing, China)
Phew. Finally my life has returned to some semblance of normality, well, I have packed off the visitors at any rate. There is still a quagmire of shipping articles in the study and I hope to clear it today, the thirteen huge boxes are beginning to get in the way. Mum and Jane’s flight was mercilessly unaffected by the recent turmoil of the Icelandic Volcano and they appear to have left as scheduled – very lucky indeed. On our final day in Beijing, after stopping at the Chairman Mao mausoleum in Tiananmen Square, we made it to the Temple of Heaven – I’m sure you’ll recognise it, even if you’ve never heard of it (but not from this image, obviously – more soon).
As per usual in any picturesque or culturally significant area in China, wedding photographs were being taken in abundance. This is my favourite one as the couple have been coerced into stretching out their arms like Kate Winslet on the Titanic. It is a common pose for general Asian photography purposes, but I’m not sure that it’s appropriate for a wedding. Intermittently, the girl on the right would throw the train of lace into the air at the photographer’s cry of “YI AR SAN!” (1 2 3!) I heard these numbers being called out more in Beijing than in any other place ever – so many people were posing for so many photographs and all of them felt the need to shout it at a distance.
I shall endeavour to put up many more images of the family trip over the following days so please stay tuned. I’m dividing my time at present between sorting out the shipping fiasco, looking at other places to live, working on an illustration portfolio and planning my forthcoming trip back to the UK in mid May. I’ll wedge in some more posts in between all that.
