China - 1983

A selection of images throughout most of China, July - October 1983. Many cityscapes have changed beyond recognition since then ...

I have arranged the sets on this page in the order that I visited the places named.

I have also added sets for images of "transport interest" - steam locomotives, tramcars and trolleybuses.

I traveled in China for three months in 1983, and managed to visit, or "pass through," every province except Tibet, Hainan (which part of Guangdong Province back then), and Taiwan (which I visited in 1980).

Except for those traveling with carefully-selected groups, few Americans visited China following the establishment of the People's Republic in 1949.

During the late 1970s, China began emerging from decades of self-imposed isolation. Trade between China and the U.S. boomed. A large share of this was conducted through Los Angeles, which has longstanding commercial and cultural ties with East Asia. I grew up in "L.A.," and noted with interested the news media reports of destinations in China newly opened to tour groups. But tour groups were expensive, and did not focus on surface transport.

Then, sometime in 1981 - or 1980 - the unthinkable took place. Without announcement or publicity, at least through English-language channels, China began granting visas to unescorted individual travelers.

That, "back then," was about as astonishing - and unlikely - as if the Democratic People's Republic of Korea began admitting unescorted individual travelers today.

There were a few interesting caveats. Such visas could be secured only in Hong Kong - and then only through a handful of student-oriented travel agencies. Chinese consular staff continued to insist - even in Hong Kong - that unescorted travel in China was not possible without official invitation. "Official" sources would usually not provide useful information and were alleged actively to discourage prospective travelers. It was virtually impossible to book accommodation or domestic travel in advance when traveling without a group.

I was not aware of any of the above until one day, in spring 1983, when I came across a newly-published guidebook ("China Off The Beaten Path," Brian Schwartz) in the local bookshop.

I had already purchased an air ticket for a (more or less) triangular course, San Francisco - Hong Kong - Tokyo - Los Angeles. The travel agency advised that I could extend the time away from home to six months without additional charge. My employer confirmed that, as a substitute teacher, I could take as much time off (... unpaid, of course! ...) as I wished. I was ready to go.

Language barrier?

Well, yes and no.

It was not uncommon to met people who could converse fluently in English - in some locations. In tourist hotels, travel offices and even police stations, there was often someone on duty who could speak English at least passably. However, few people one was likely to meet away from such settings spoke any English. I do remember meeting a small number of people aboard trains and intercity buses who spoke good English.

Prior to departure, I enrolled in a three-month "extension" course at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). This course, titled "Beginning Chinese for Travelers," met one evening per week. We students did not learn fluent speech in just three months but the essentials we did pick up were very useful. The teacher, Ms. Ling Chang, was very patient and encouraging (she said that her name, spelled in hanyu pinyin and arranged Chinese style, was Zhang Ling).

I had significant experience with the written language - after a fashion. I had spent many long hours of work on the "Electric Railways of Japan" handbook series, deciphering and drawing Sino-Japanese characters. Therefore, in China, I was able to recognize, remember and copy various things of interest (e.g. trolleybus destination signs). This I could do quite readily, sometimes to the fascination of bystanders. My "vocabulary" fell far short of that needed to read a newspaper but I managed very well with transport maps, railway timetables and the like.

In some cases, I was actually ... well, mute! This happened when I recognized a word or words in Chinese characters - but did not know the Chinese pronunciation. I might be able to pronounce the characters in Japanese; I might even be able to explain the meaning (in English), but had not a clue about the Chinese pronunciation.

My written language "skills" (so to speak) might sound chaotic and confusing. However, various travelers from Hong Kong assured me that I was much better off than visitors who could not read Chinese at all.

Restrictions on photography?

None!

Anywhere!

Subjects of obvious military importance were certainly off limits to foreign photographers (although these were rarely in evidence in towns).

Police and staff did not object to railway photography, much in contrast to other "socialist" countries at the time.

In cities, a foreigner photographing tramcars and trolleybuses (and taking copious notes) was evidently not of concern to "officialdom."

Photography of certain events, sensitive at least in theory, did not cause problems. In1983, police in several cities routinely displayed persons accused (or convicted) of crimes by parading them through town on flatbed lorries (or on foot). No one objected as I photographed several of these "humiliation parades."

(When photographing transport subjects, I generally wore very brightly-colored "T"-shirts. The idea was to make myself "conspicuous" so that no one could ("reasonably") accuse me of spying. No one did.)

All photos were taken with a Canon TX SLR camera, using Kodachrome color slide film, ISO 64 or 25. I used Ektachrome color slide film, ISO 400, "push processed" to ISO 800, for a small number of "available light" photos.