People on the tour are remarking about how adorable the young Chinese children are. They have a very sweet way about them, and they seem to be extremely well-loved and taken care of by their families, even in the poorer neighborhoods.
You can see it in everything from the way they’re held to the careful way they’re dressed. (One important thing to remember in connection with this is China’s policy of discouraging, and often actually forbidding, more than one child per family, in an effort to control the population. So, often these are only children, or at the most, one of two.)
Seeing how these children are being given such a loving and devoted upbringing has made me very hopeful about China’s future.
I’m having a lot of fun photographing little kids with my digital camera and then showing the photo on the LCD monitor to the parents. Poorer people, and people in small towns, seem unfamiliar with digital cameras, and they’re delighted to see the photo right away–and they love to have their children photographed, even when they don’t want to be photographed themselves.
Here are some photos of one little girl who approached me at the Western Buddhist temple. She was very curious about us, but very shy, and wanted to approach me, but would run away if I looked at her, so I kept looking away. Eventually she came up to me and touched my curly hair, to see if it was real. In the end I got a good close-up photo of her, and got her interested in taking photos of me.
And, here are more photos of Chinese children and parents from areas throughout this China trip:
Click here to view Day 16 of the China Trip
Click here to view Day 15 of the China Trip
Click here to view Day 14 of the China Trip
Click here to view Day 13 of the China Trip
Click here to view Day 12 of the China Trip
Click here to view Day 11 of the China Trip
Click here to view Day 10 of the China Trip
Click here to view Day 9 of the China Trip
Click here to view Day 8 of the China Trip
Click here to view Day 7 of the China Trip
Click here to view Day 6 of the China Trip
Click here to view Day 5 of the China Trip
Click here to view Day 4 of the China Trip
