- Travelogue
Butuo
Brian Hennessy. Chongqing in China; and Cairns in Australia. Butuo Butuo is the saddest town I have seen in China. It is a couple of hours by local bus from Xichang, the provincial capital of the Liangshan (Cool Mountains) area in Southern Sichuan province. This is the heart of the Yi Autonomous Prefecture, homeland of [...]
Nujiang Canyon
Brian Hennessy. Chongqing, China; and Cairns, Australia. Nujiang Canyon The Nujiang (Nu River) Canyon is a spectacular 315 kilometre long marvel of nature in northwest Yunnan province in southwest China. The Chinese call it the Grand Canyon of the East: a direct comparison with the more famous Grand Canyon in the USA. There is [...]
To Yangshuo
Brian Hennessy. Chongqing. September, 2011. To Yangshuo Travel agencies around the world display the photos. Sensually moulded limestone kharst mountains huddled together – a jumble of softly rounded silhouettes pushing up into a hazy blue south China sky. Iconic stuff. Really. If you are on a boat floating, drifting, or motoring lazily down the shallow [...]
Kangding
Brian Hennessy. Chongqing, China. 2007, 2009, 2010. Kangding. West Sichuan. Kangding is a place where mainstream Han Chinese influence gives way to a more noticeable minority Tibetan culture. An historic small town where tea from Ya'an in China used to be exchanged for yak hides and herbs from Tibet. Once a trading town and cultural [...]
Litang
Brian Hennessy. Chongqing, China. 2006, 2007, 2008, & 2010 Litang. Litang is the heart of Khamba culture in this eastern part of the Tibetan Plateau. The centre of the old kingdom of Kham. The inhabitants, although Tibetan, have their own character and history. They are a wild, proud lot. Noted for their independence and warrior spirit, [...]
In Xichang
Brian Hennessy. Chongqing, China. 2007. In Xichang. The first thing I do after arriving in a new town is get my bearings. And as I wander around looking at everything, getting the feel of the place, I often stumble across something really good. In Xichang yesterday, it was the old quarter of town. The [...]
Valley: On the Tibetan border
Brian Hennessy. Chongqing, China. Summer, 2007 Genie Holy Mountain. Tsaupa Gu. The valley’s name is Tsaupa Gu (Chuppa Gully). It is located on the other side of Genie Holy Mountain, and is surrounded by a jagged semicircle of grey, green and brown which dominates the closed eastern end of this little lost world. A giant [...]
Liaoning Province: Fushun city.
Brian Hennessy, Chongqing, China. 2008. Liaoning Province: Fushun city. Like many ordinary cities in China, Fushun does not impress at first sight. The same old grimy buildings and littered streets dominated by rampant spewing smokestacks. This is industrial north-east China. Dongbei: the home of coal, steel, and struggling State Owned Enterprises. Three-wheeled cars, VW Jetta [...]
Dazu: Cliff-face carvings. Chongqing.
Brian Hennessy. Chongqing, China. 2009 The scene: A giant stone Buddha reclining, a smile of enlightenment on his enigmatic face as he enters nirvana. Next door, Guanyin, Goddess of Mercy, is busy with her 1,007 arms looking after the daily concerns of the faithful. Tending to the needs of supplicants who pray for a suitable [...]
Lugu Hu (Lake).
Brian Hennessy. Chongqing, China. 2007 Lugu Hu (lake). Lugu Hu is a remote lake straddling the Sichuan-Yunnan border in southwest China. Perched at 2685m above sea-level, the area around this wonder of nature is home for 36,000 Mosuo people, whose culture emerged long ago from Tibetan and Naxi influences. This ancient matriarchal society is famous [...]