China 2024 (Beijing)

A collection of my favourite Beijing photos from the Ricoh GR3

I spent the first few days in China comparing it - unfavourably - to Japan.

Japan is my favourite destination, so almost anywhere is going to come across as second best.

Two months later, I look at photos from the trip, and I’m so glad that I went. I’d even like to go back to China one day - but on my own terms and not on a rushed package holiday.

There were plenty of opportunites to photograph interesting scenes. In China, like in other countries, half the battle is finding neighbourhoods that haven’t been modernised yet.

The GR3 is still my favourite compact camera. I’m weighing up whether I keep the Fujifilm X100VI or not.

I adore the colours of the Ricoh’s positive film mode. If you’re a regular reader of my Substack, you’ve seen this photo before, but I couldn’t resist posting the GR3 version.

I also love that the GR3 is a little more stealthy than other cameras too. You can whip it out of your pocket at a moment’s notice.

The GR3 gives a significantly wider view than the Fujifilm X100VI - 28mm vs 35mm in full frame terms. You may remember this guy from my China 2024 (People) post. He works in a cafe halfway up a section of the Great Wall of China. I popped in here while waiting for my nephew Harrison who headed further up the wall.

The cafe would have been a relatively pleasant place to relax and enjoy the view. I say ‘would have’ as there was an obnoxious promotional message blasting continuosly on a loop outside the cafe. You can hear it below.

The array of souvenir items in the Great Wall store was, for the lack of a better way to describe it, a bit crap. I thought with so much of the world’s manufactured goods made in China, that there would be better quality things to buy, and the prices would be cheaper.

I didn’t try the coffee at the Great Wall store, opting for a sugar rush of a Coke and Snickers instead. Don’t even get me started on the pitiful range and taste of Chinese chocolate. Next time, I’ll bring my own supply.

The charming city of Suzhou is up next - my favourite place on the trip.

Cheers

Matt

P.S. Sorry there hasn’t been a post for a couple weeks. I had a minor health issue in late April and last weekend was my daughter’s 16th birthday. Lots more posts coming soon!