Huanghuacheng, China
黄花城长城
Hiking the Wild Wall at Huánghuāchéng Great Wall, China — March 24, 2001
My first trip to China was blessed/plagued with an infamous Gobi Desert dust storm. This presented a highly challenging photography environment because the sand in the sky gave everything a yellow and brown tint. The lack of direct sunlight meant my shots would risk overexposure, lack shadow and appear boring and drab; in addition, my negatives were scratched. Up until now I found it unrewarding to work with these photos and subsequently most of them were not posted here. Enter my new Nikon Super Coolscan 5000 ED with Digital ICE. Below are fruits of my efforts, albeit eight years later. Please enjoy. Next time we return to this spot it may well look entirely different with hordes of tours, megaphones, food stalls, handrails, the ubiquitous tout and a lot less dust.
Local entrepreneur, Huánghuāchéng Great Wall, China — March 24, 2001
The wall at this point became so steep that most sane folks would opt for the easier trail off the wall. This local responded with an informative sign.