It seems Buddha, movies and dancing are all Chinese people really know about India.
Few have had an opportunity to visit the neighboring country that has so many similarities and differences with China.
But three Chinese photographers are now showing a new face of India, an ancient civilization that is experiencing the dynamics and challenges of modern culture -- just like China.
Organized by the Embassy of India in Beijing, the exhibition at the Jintai Art Museum in eastern Beijing's Chaoyang Park features about 200 impressive photographs by Shao Huaze, Mao Xiaoyu and Li Yiyi, who recently visited India.
The exhibition, entitled India Through Chinese Eyes, started on Friday and will end on Thursday.
Shao, chairman of the All China Journalists' Association, displays 50 of his shots taken while leading a journalist delegation to India in December. An amateur photographer with a journalist's eye, Shao often captures scenes such as the customs of ordinary Indians.
The majority of the exhibits, however, are by Mao, a scholar of Indian art at the China Academy of Arts in Beijing, and Li, a photographer and editor from the Jiangxi Fine Arts Publishing House.
Mao, who studied in India as a visiting scholar from 1996-97, revisited India with Li in November at the invitation of the Indian Government. "The country impressed me immensely with its beauty and charm in both the ancient and modern sense," Mao said.
Li said: "For people who love art, India is an absolute paradise. I hope I will be able to visit there again."
More Chinese people are now able to visit India since it has become a new destination of overseas travel, as a result of a memorandum signed between the tourism authorities of the two nations in December.
The pictures by Mao and Li touch every aspect of India today, from traditional art and modern architecture to high-tech labs, extravagant hotels, wedding ceremonies and street vendors.
Through their photos, visitors can get a glimpse of India and marvel at the fast-paced modernization of the country while being charmed by its long history and well preserved ancient civilization.
(China Daily January 27, 2003)
