We had to search high and low to find one of these traditional Chinese tea houses, and this one was about an hour north of Chengdu. We were super happy to find it and we had some incredible tea. One of my favorite things about it was all these old communist posters on the wall. I also kind of like that the place was mostly a wreck… they make great tea, but they’re not the best at tidying.

Who’s in charge of cleaning this tea house?

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2018-06-15 16:59:23
• CameraILCE-7RM3
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1.3
• Aperture7.1
• ISO200
• Focal Length16.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

Chengdu is famous for its hotpot restaurants, which basically means you have a pot in the middle of the table and everyone dumps various ingredients inside to cook. Then people just kind of use their chopsticks to pull out random stuff to eat. This particular restaurant was pretty cool and extra Chinese-extravagant.

Hotpot Dining in Chengdu

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• Date Taken2018-06-14 23:46:43
• CameraILCE-7RM3
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time2
• Aperture9
• ISO100
• Focal Length16.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

While I was working on this video for today’s Passport Sunday, I was convinced this bridge was in Chengdu. But now maybe I think it’s in Tianjin. It totally doesn’t matter, but I’m amazed at how so many Chinese cities blend together in my mind. Many of them have cool bridges like this. I don’t know. I guess it is Tianjin. Or maybe even Beijing, but probably not. Who cares, it’s a cool bridge and I think it would be pretty cool to live inside of a bridge.

The Bridge that is Either in Chengdu or Tianjin

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2018-06-15 00:36:05
• CameraILCE-7RM3
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1.3
• Aperture4
• ISO100
• Focal Length42.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

Chengdu is known as the home of the Panda Bears in China. I don’t love the way they treat animals and stuff in China, but it’s still a beautiful place. I try and imagine Panda Bears swinging around free and eating bamboo ice cream or whatever they eat.

Walking in the Panda Bamboo Forest of Chengdu

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• Date Taken2018-06-15 18:43:05
• CameraILCE-7RM3
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/80
• Aperture2.8
• ISO800
• Focal Length16.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

While in Chengdu, China, we visited this really old tea house. I thought it was pretty incredible watching these guys make tea in the old way like they have for thousands of years. These places are become and rarer… the only people inside that seemed to be enjoying the tea were people that seemed to be at least 100 years old, so I don’t see their target market hanging around a lot longer…

Inside the Old Tea House

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2018-06-15 15:21:45
• CameraILCE-7RM3
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/125
• Aperture
• ISO800
• Focal Length
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

A lot of these old communist tea houses have been destroyed in the new age of China, but I found one that still existed. I think (artistically) some of the colors and lines look really interesting. My favorite bits are the old propaganda posters on the back wall. I decided to give this one a rather harsh HDR treatment because I like how it emphasises the blacks and reds.

Communist Relics in Chengdu

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2018-06-15 17:00:06
• CameraILCE-7RM3
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1.3
• Aperture7.1
• ISO200
• Focal Length16.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

Chengdu is known for its hot pot restaurants. It’s basically a huge boiling pot where everyone tosses in meats and veggies and stuff. It’s sort of a fun communal thing, I guess… but it’s also one of those places where they trick the customers into cooking their own food. During dinner, there is this Chinese opera that is being performed. However, while I was taking photos and really paying attention, I realized they were all lip-syncing and the performance was not actually real!

The Hot Pot in Chengdu

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2018-06-14 23:16:18
• CameraILCE-7RM3
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/60
• Aperture4
• ISO1600
• Focal Length105.0 mm
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

Man, these old dudes in the outskirts of China really seem to get a kick out of drinking tea and smoking all day. It seems like the thing to do. And everyone seems really quite old… someone they just keep tickin’ along. Although, I guess this is not really a fair sampling because I’m technically not seeing all the dead ones.

In the Chengdu Tea House

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2018-06-15 15:00:39
• CameraILCE-7RM3
• Camera MakeSony
• Exposure Time1/50
• Aperture
• ISO400
• Focal Length
• FlashOff, Did not fire
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

It’s a pretty fun little photo idea to go to old barber shops in old parts of distant cities. There’s always a bunch of characters in there and no one seems to mind the photography even though nobody speaks English. I think they are just happy to be interesting enough to get some attention!

Haircut in Chengdu

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• Date Taken2020-07-08 15:20:04
• Camera
• Camera Make
• Exposure Time
• Aperture
• ISO
• Focal Length
• Flash
• Exposure Program
• Exposure Bias