Last weekend, I held the opening of my first solo exhibition in mainland China of China’s Growing Sands, at Cafe Zarah in central Beijing. The evening was a wonderful success, attracting a great crowd of people interested in environmental issues, desertification and photography. Thankyou so much to all those who made it on the night. The exhibition runs until August 5th, so there is still plenty of time to get down to Cafe Zarah to see the images if you couldn’t make it on the night.

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*Update* – P.M. Wed 8th July 2009 – A friend has recommended a proxy-server which means I can temporarily circumvent the great firewall of China. Let’s hope this last until things return to normal. Spread the word on this site, which keeps the information flowing. See you on Twiiter and FB, for now!

*Update* – A.M. Wed 8th July 2009 – Twitter continues to be blocked and now FACEBOOK is also inaccessible. To those who follow my updates through Facebook, please do not think I have disappeared. It’s just my outlets for contact are decreasing by the day! Can’t help but feel all of this just makes the ‘powers that be’ look more and more silly. A little like this.

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So, another day, another website is blocked in China.

Anyone who has spent any length of time here will know of the restrictions that are levied against the internet on a fairly regular basis. For years the BBC was well and truly blocked, rumoured to be because a BBC article made insinuations about the nocturnal private life of  a very famous former Chinese leader. Blogs are a frequent target of blocking, as they provide a venue for their users to express opinions on anything they want. Not something which is exactly encouraged here.

Twitter seems to be the new enemy here in China and one which has been noticed quickly and has become a favourite for the ‘blockers’. The ability for the instant spreading of information is quite remarkable and the evidence for which appeared on Sunday night when the events in Xinjiang took place.

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China. Hetian. The uncomfortable co-existence of Han and Uyghurs in Xinjiang Province. May 2009

This week’s photo comes from a region of China that has shot straight into the headlines over the past 24 hours. The region is Xinjiang, China’s westernmost province . In Chinese, its name means “new land” or “new frontier” and it is one of the most exciting, beautiful and interesting provinces in the whole of the country, however it is also one of the country’s most volatile.

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Screenshot of Beijinger Website 3rd July 2009

As a reminder for those who are interested in viewing the first exhibited images from my ‘China’s Growing Sands‘ project, here are a couple of promo-pieces that have come out for the event tomorrow. Two of Beijing’s leading magazines, the Beijinger and Beijing City Weekend, approached me in the past couple of weeks to conduct a couple of short interviews to promote the event and give a little background to myself and the work. Please take a moment to read the pieces here and here.

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