From my first post on Travel Gumbo, November 10, 2013:
“From time to time a single photograph of a striking place or building will be the irresistible impetus for a trip to see the thing in person. In surrendering to these urges I’ve found I really cannot go wrong. My instincts seem to know when a thing is remarkable enough that any amount of bother will be worth the effort. I found this to be true again when a picture of a tulou (pronounced too’-low) in Fujian Province in Southern China sent me, literally, packing.”
So began my first story for Travel Gumbo, describing the wonderful structures that cover the hillsides, thousands of them, in Fujian Province, China. At the time I wrote it I didn’t have access to my own photos of the trip and illustrated the words with pictures available online. While they were good ones, they weren’t my own. So, if you’re inclined, read my story here about the tulou, and enjoy these photos which illustrate some of the most interesting days of my life, including a few (of many) of me taken by the charming people on my all-Chinese-but-one tour. It proved to me once again that a language in common is incidental.
Click here for the full story, The Tulou of Fujian Province.
Read the prequel, ‘Gulanyu Island’, here.
To read more of PortMoresby’s contributions, click here.
I really love the “new” old pictures…seeing it with people makes it even more amazing.
I well remember that first story because it convinced us what a great story-teller you were. We’ve since learned that your eye for photographic detail is equally (if not more-so) refined. The two together are dynamite!
Love these photos and the look at life in a truly unique and interesting place.
I liked the last photos, but yours with people are even better! I see now why you stated, “One cannot really feel the monumental size of the some of them from a photograph.” Your photos though do a great job in capturing that size !