Join the hoards at Badaling during 'Golden Week' Holidays. 2006

<<Return to the Learning Zone In the second of my series of “Where is the best place to photograph…” (view the first one can be found here), I want to tackle possibly THE most famous landmark in the whole of the country: The Great Wall of China.

This iconic landmark is photographed like no-other and has fascinated photographers, all looking for the best vantage point in order to capture this amazing structure. But the question is; Where is the best place to photograph the Great Wall of China?

In this post, I shall offer up 4 suggestions. These are not the only locations of course. I have not visited every part and these are just my choices. If you know of, or want to recommend interesting/photogenic parts you have been to, please feel free to let us know in the comments section below and vote in the survey.  So, let’s begin….

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TEDx Canton

Next week sees the arrival of TEDx on the Guangzhou Science Center, in southern China. I feel very flattered and honoured to have been invited to be one of the speakers at the event, talking about my recent work over the past couple of years for the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. For those of you who are free on Saturday 4th September, click the picture above to get info about how you can get hold of some of the last remaining tickets that are available. I am sure that it is going to be an amazing day, with great talks and attended by a lot of very interesting people.

If you see me there, please come and say hi!

Sand ships on Dongting lake in Hunan Province.

SEAN GALLAGHER FOR THE PULITZER CENTER, HUNAN PROVINCE, CHINA

I was starting to feel a little anxious as I approached the shores of Dongting Lake in China’s central Hunan province. From a distance, I easily spied the country’s second largest freshwater lake. As I approached, waves lapped up on the shore, breaking near the barriers separating the lake from the nearby walkway.  As I peered over the barriers and gazed further, I saw clumps of green protruding from the water. They were tree tops. This wasn’t exactly the scene I was expecting.

Dongting Lake has been reported as a lake in crisis. Dropping water levels have sent alarm-bells ringing in scientific and environmental circles, as the area of the lake has reportedly dropped by nearly 50 percent in the past 70 years. What I was witnessing however appeared to be the opposite. One fact was certain, this was a lake in an incredible state of flux.

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Chinese Alligators in enclosure at ARCAR

SEAN GALLAGHER, FOR THE PULITZER CENTER, ANHUI PROVINCE, CHINA

When I discovered in my research that China had its own crocodilian, I was excited to try to find an opportunity to photograph it. What I was not prepared for was to learn that the species is perilously near extinction.

“In the past few centuries, the number of Yangtze alligator[s] has dropped dramatically”, explained Xie Yan, a quiet and unassuming  woman who is the current director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s China office. Having studied Zoology in university in Sichuan, she became concerned with the plight of many of China’s animals species, leading her to write numerous books about China’s wildlife. “According to a survey in 1998, only 120 wild Yangtze crocodiles [are] left. In the past, the number should be between 10,000 and one million,” continued Xie Yun, during an interview at the Anhui Research Center of Alligator Reproduction (ARCAR).

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