Two Chinese girls holding chicks in their hands at a park. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
Chinese watermelon seller wearing a bamboo hat, a conical hat. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.

A small Chinese town photographed in 12 hours by a foreigner and a longtime resident, what does it look like...

On Saturday night I wrote to a WeChat chat group:
“I haven’t photographed anything for a few weeks. First it was too hot, now it has been raining for a few days. Tomorrow it’s supposed to be a sunny day here at the border of the town and the countryside. Any good ideas for my tomorrow’s photography topic? If anyone comes up with something I can do, I’ll post a few photos tomorrow evening here.”

So a good friend answered:
“Try to get advertising photos for a vacation nearby…. I mean intentionally taking nice looking shots, but no shit around it. Going to positions where the eye normally does not go and limit the view to a nice area only.”

I didn’t quite stick to the given assignment, but I tried putting on my tourist glasses and tried to see the area I’ve known for 13 years, as someone who just came to the town, especially a foreigner. You all know that you have only a few days after arriving at a new place to shoot photos showing the uniqueness of the new place, because after that everything becomes normal. I don’t know if I managed to capture the feeling of our absolutely-not-touristy town, but I tried. And cycled for 12 hours hunting for photo ops.

If you have time, here you go, 58 final photos of our little 250k-inhabitant Chinese town near Xi’an, Shaanxi province, and its surroundings on a July Sunday. 

China electricity transmission tower, power grid, surrounded by trees and heavy clouds hanging above. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
A modern Chinese apartment complex behind a cornfield. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
Chinese street artist painting a colorful wall. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
Chinese wall painting, wall art, a painted farmer holding crops. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
Chinese umbrellas decoration. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
Chinese wall writing characters. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
Chinese boy skateboarding. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
Chinese gardener. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
Detail of a Chinese stone decoration monument. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
Decorative Chinese eaves on top of a fence. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
A majestic new apartment building in China. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
A newly finished apartment building in China. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
Empty, almost finished boulevard, road in China. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
Men passing by on a scooter moped on a Chinese countryside road surrounded by green vegetation. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
A Chinese farmer hauling hay using a Chinese wooden two-wheeler handcart. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
Elderly Chinese man playing the flute at a road construction site. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
A church behind a removed village in China. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
Closed carousel, merry go around, in China. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
Car carrier trailer, auto transport, on an elevated Chinese highway. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
A blue Chinese tricycle truck, 3-wheeler truck with the bed lifted. Photographed against a concrete wall. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
Bicycle repair technician sitting in front of his shop in China. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
A chinese man throwing rain water from a bucket. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
Red chili peppers at a Chinese food market. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
Red chili flakes, chili powder. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
Chinese restaurant’s kitchen, view from street, two chefs cooking. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
Chinese street food prepared by a chef wearing a mask. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
Blue, red, green decoration against the blue sky. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
Construction machinery in China. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
A group of men playing Chinese music instruments in a pavilion in a park. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
A group of Chinese women playing flutes in a pavilion in a park. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
A green cornfield in China. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
A raw pomegranate in China. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
Old Chinese house front and an old door. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
Red Chinese house front. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
A harvesting machine on a Chinese countryside road. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
Trash collector at work with his tricycle. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
Chinese pagoda near Xi’an, Shaanxi. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
New Chinese apartment complex. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
Chinese noodles on shop display. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
Chinese pita bread filled with spicy potato slices, eggs and cabbage. This Xi’nese dish is called tudou pian jia mo. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
Coca Cola spelled both in Chinese characters and in English on a bench and a table. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
A colorful, red replica of a Terracotta warrior. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
An old rusty Chinese door or a gate of a domestic building. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
A detail of a recycling center containing both Chinese characters and English writing. Other waste. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
A collection of old, big Chinese crocks, vases, for water. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
A Chinese house front with a garden. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
A fountain in a Chinese park. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
A Chinese senior man napping in the park, leaning against a column, wearing a hat. Photographer Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
A confession of love scratched on the wall. “G love L.” Photographer by Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
A woman passing by on a scooter, Chinese writing on a blue wall behind her. Photographer by Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
Chinese lady selling Chinese dates, jujubes, at a food market. Photographer by Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
Big watermelons stacked at a food market in China. Photographer by Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
A transmission tower photographed from underneath, heavy clouds hanging above. Photographer by Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
A view from the rooftop across a residential complex around the sunset time in China. Photographer by Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
A group of men playing Chinese chess, xiangqi, on the sidewalk. Photographer by Tuomas Harjumaaskola.
Young Chinese woman riding a scooter across the field at sunset time, wearing a mask. Photographed by Tuomas Harjumaskola.

That’s all. Or is it?

Contact Tuomas Harjumaaskola here for China photo shoot gigs, licencing photos, etc. 

Check out Tuomas’ commercial portfolio here.