If the images in last post disturb you, I apologize. But that was not my purpose. And today, I share with you two most beautiful creatures: horses! I saw them on my way to Colorado from New Mexico last year. I’d love to have them, or even better, be one of them…
昨日的图血淋淋，如果您看了觉得恶心。我很抱歉，但我的目的不是为了让你们觉得恶心…今日，我和你们分享骏马图，是我从新墨西哥州开车往科罗拉多的路上看到的。但愿我能拥有他们，甚至，成为他们的一员。。。
dog for meat – Images by xiaomei chen
(中文在英文下面）
Years ago, I ate dog meat once or twice. I didn’t really enjoy it as the meat was tough and the smell was not that pleasant. Now I don’t eat dog meat because I have fallen in love with dogs. (I miss my dogs, who are an ocean away from me, and who may be better than some people.) This said, I don’t think I have the right to accuse those who kill dogs for meat. It would be unfair to display these graphic images of a murdered dog without explanation.
Food is part of the culture. The Chinese like eating dogs in the winter. I notice a lot of signs that say: “Dog Meat Pot” outside many restaurants in south China. And dog meat is pretty expensive. Because of this, dogs are stolen, then sold for meat. Sad… However, if you eat fish, which are, in my opinion, among the most beautiful creatures, you have no right to accuse those who eat dogs, as fish and dogs are equal, so are pigs, sheep, cows, etc. Even fruit and vegetable have their lives. Should we give up eating anything that has life and starve?
I once did a project on dogs in LA. That’s a completely different attitude about dogs. A woman once told me she spent $2000/month on her dogs. Here is the link to the dog tales in LA:
http://chenxphoto.com/magazine/
很久以前，我吃过一、两次狗肉。狗肉并不好吃。味膻而肉老。后来，我爱上狗，就更不吃狗了。（我想念我的狗狗们。他们比一些人还要好。）年二十五，邻居杀狗取肉，地上血淋淋，看了有点惊心动魄。可是，我没有权力对邻居说他不人道。如果你吃鱼，别人说这是不人道的——因为水里的鱼儿多美呀，你大概会不服气。其实，狗和鱼是平等的，还有鸡、鸭、鹅、牛、羊等等，还有好看的苹果、橙子、柠檬、莴苣等，他们都有自己的生命。
食乃文化。中国人爱在冬天吃狗肉，说冬狗进补。中国南方很多餐馆外都挂着“狗肉煲”的牌子。狗肉还很贵。因为贵，就有人盗狗卖肉。真是恶劣。盗狗者不道德，但我仍没有权力责怪吃狗者，如果他们并不知道那狗是偷来的。
我曾在洛杉矶做过一个关于狗的专题。洛杉矶的人对的态度与中国人相差一万八千里。一个女人告诉我，她每个月在狗身上的花费有两千多美金……以下是洛杉矶的狗狗连谏：
This is my hometown, Heyuan, a beautiful land in south China.
月是故乡的明，水是老家的清。这是我的家——中国广东河源，被新丰江、东江环绕的那片土。
As the year of dragon approaches, I wish you a blissful new year full of joy and peace!
祝所有善良、诚实的人们在龙年大吉大利、一帆风顺、心想事成！
Chinese New Year of dragaon 1 – Images by xiaomei chen
(NOTE: English text below Chinese)
路遇喊冤者，陈正钟，62岁，福建大田人。据其状书，1997年8月，陈被两邻居殴打，告到均溪派出所，被派出所勒索处理费5000元。派出所邱道全等人收银后，继续包庇凶手，并恐吓、毒打陈。01年，陈告状到大田县公安局，被大田公安局范立江等人殴打致残，后又被栽赃陷害，被判坐牢两年半。所听所见，乃一面之词，然若细想，谁愿意拖着残疾的身躯背井离乡，餐风宿露，十年如一日，对有权势者做无结果的“诬告”？
Chinese peasant Zhengzhong Chen, 62, of Datian, Fujian, has wanted to talk to President Hu Jingtao for over a decade.
Chen claimed to have been beaten by his neighbors, who were protected by the local police. After Chen reported his neighbors to the local police, he was asked to pay ¥5000 to the police as a process fee. Despite the money, which was a big sum for a peasant in 1997, the police not only refused to take the case, but warned Chen not to mention it any more.
When Chen sued his neighbors and Junxi Police Station at Datian County Court and won in 1998, he was revenged, this time with the help of Datian County police. According to Chen, on Nov. 30, 1998, Lijiang Fan and others of Datian County Police Station broke into his house, handcuffed him, hung him from the top of a window, beat him, kicked him, electrified him and needled his penis till he passed out. After that, he was put to prison and was there for 15 days.
On June 28, 2001, Chen was put down on his way to sue Datian Police. The revengers hit him on the head with handcuffs, kicked his forehead, chest, throat, back, etc, then hung him in the air. Since then, Chen lost his ability to walk. Not only that, he was sentenced to be in prison for two years and a half. He was released as result of bad health on Aug. 28, 2008. Now he wants to talk to the highest leader of the country about his mishaps.
The above content is based on Chen’s letter to President Hu.
（Note: English text below Chinese）
黄田依山傍水，因为东江的缘故，曾是粤东山区一个交通枢纽、商业中心。到赶集的日子，就很热闹。但它还是一个小镇子。现在，它不但小，而且落魄了。因为现代交通的发达，东江似乎失去了它作为交通枢纽的作用。人们不再乘船远行，而是坐车走高速公路。年轻人也再守不住山区小镇的寂寞，渐渐离乡到大城市去。镇里唯一的客家围龙屋也只剩了个空壳。
但中国人总忘不了自己的根。人走了，家族的祠堂还是要建起来。有了祠堂，老祖宗才能保佑自己和后代。一月九日，黄田的曾氏祠堂落成，举行了入伙典礼。炮仗、香烛、锣鼓、舞狮表演和人群让平日寂寞的小镇忽然热闹起来。
Huangtian, a small Hakka town in east Guangdong Province, sits by the East River and in the valley of Gui Mountains. Before express highways were built, the East River was an important water way in the mountainous area, making Huangtian an important traffic and commercial center in old times. It was still a small town, though, with only one main street.
As economy develops in China and express highways were built, Huangtian has lost its role as a traffic and commercial center. With the young people leaving for bigger towns, Huantian is now a forgotten place. Its only traditional Hakka house, which is surrounded by modern but ugly houses, is almost empty.
But the Chinese always remember our root. Although people have left their hometown for bigger cities, they always return to worship their ancestors at their family shrines. When rich, people rebuilt their family shrines, which would bless them and their offsprings.The Shrine of the Zeng family was rebuilt last year and a ceremony was held on Jan. 9 to celebrate the new family shrine.
(Note: English text below Chinese.)
在中国，尤其是在广州，人满为患。在地铁和公交车里，很少能坐着。从车外往里看，人们很无奈地挤着。广州的公交车和地铁总让我想起市场里的鸡笼。这个画面从我二十多年前第一次去广州的时候起，就一直贴在我脑海里。过了那么多年，广州已经很现代化了——用我那些发达资本主义国家的朋友们的话说，广州比他们的美国城市还现代，但公交车＝鸡笼的画面仍牢牢贴在我的脑海里。
元旦那天，我和波、群挤地铁从员村到芳村，然后在芳村转挤公共汽车，到佛山探望群的父母，去吃大盘鸡，还有新疆面条。群的父母是朴实、善良的人，并且好客。所以，挤一个多小时的车很值得。可是，我仍然很想念开车到处乱逛的日子。那种自由，在中国，似乎可望不可及。
多年没去芳村，发现原本荒凉的地段如今也热闹了，还有些杂乱。街头到处是摆地摊的。那些人自称来自西藏，专卖野生动物的骨、角、爪子等。我看见几个老虎爪子，巨大而张狂。也不知道那些东西是不是真的。希望不是的。不然，我们的稀有动物就更稀少了。
路上还遇到一个老人，神情有些古怪。我拍了一张他的照片，然后谢谢他。他盯着我，有审视的意思。今天，我看他的照片，忽然觉得他有点哲人的味道。
前天终于又回老家河源去。妹妹也带了孩子回娘家来。我那敏感又可爱的小外甥女教她的外公、外婆玩一个手机游戏：一只学舌猫，阴阳怪调地重复我们说的每一句话。这个简单又好玩的游戏充分暴露了我母亲的儿童本性。她不断地咯咯大笑，笑得喘不过气来，仍没能忍住笑。原本被学舌猫引得发笑的外甥女于是发现她的外婆原来比学舌猫更好笑。
For those who always criticize China’s one-child policy, I suggest they come to live in China and live a life like most Chinese citizens, who have to squeeze into a bus or train for work/home every day, who have to compete with hundreds, thousands, even more for a school seat or a job…
The buses and trains in Guangzhou reminds me of chicken coops full of chickens. This image has stuck to my head since over 20 years ago, when I first moved to Guangzhou. After so many years, when Guangzhou is considered very modern by my friends from modern Capitalist countries, this image remains unchanged.
On New Year’s Day, my brother, his wife, Qun, and I went to visit Qun’s parents in Foshan. It took us an hour and a half to take a train then a bus to travel from Yuancun to Foshan. It was certainly worth the trouble considering meeting Qun’s loving and super kind parents and eating their delicious noodles and chicken. But that day, I extremely miss the time when I drove anywhere freely.
We took off the train in Fangcun, which in my memory used to be a remote village. Now it is a busy area, flooded with people – passengers, business people selling food, bus/train tickets to different destinations all over china, and rare animal products like tiger paws, Tibetan sheep horns, etc. Those sellers claimed to be from Tibet. I wonder if they and their animal products were real. I hope not.
Before I got on the bus, I photographed a man, who looked a bit off. I thanked him and he stared at me. He was examining me. Today, when I look at the picture I took of him, it occurred to me that he looked like a philosopher, who has been examining lives going on all the time.
And the other day, I finally came back home and stay with my parents for a few days before I move on for the next project. My sister came home with her daughter, Tongtong who called me Auntie Mommy. Little Tongtong was teaching my parents a cell phone game: a copycat repeated whatever we said in a thin and high pitch. He was mocking us, making us sound very funny. Mom was amused. Well, I’d say “amused” was not the right word. Mom couldn’t stop laughing. She was like a baby who found anything funny andlaughable. She laughed so hard that Tongtong found herself more amused by her grandma than the copycat.
(Note: English below Chinese text)
回国来一个多月，看到很多图片，但拍的并不多，常常是在上、下班的路上，或和朋友聚会的途中，蜻蜓点水似的抓拍一些图片。所以这些图片，多是粗糙的。之所以蜻蜓点水，是因为总是很匆忙，还因为我发现在国内拍片比在美国要困难很多。人们总是有很高的警惕心理。我仍保留着在美国的拍片习惯——总要事先征求被拍者的同意，才端起相机。结果，大多数人都给我一声恶狠狠或冷冰冰的“不”，他们看我的眼神也很奇怪，似乎我是一个怪物。
然而，中国的社会景象似乎比美国更加丰富、精彩，很值得纪录下来。我真希望能花时间好好拍摄。我希望我有足够的时间和拍摄对象沟通，让他们知道，我没有恶意，只是想用我的相机拍下我看到的文化和社会景象，或者正在发生的、老百姓的历史。
圣诞这周，仅是在上下班的路上，和朋友下馆子的途中，就可以强烈感受到当今中国是一个让人眼花缭乱的蒙太奇世界。
在广州最新、最昂贵的珠江新城，赶潮流的人们仿效西洋人戴上心形荧光眼镜、荧光牛角、还有新奥尔良狂欢节面具，走到银光闪烁的圣诞树旁拍照。离珠江新城只有三个地铁站的员村，三个满身满脸灰尘、发育不良、眼睛凄苦的孩子在街头吃力地卖艺。他们用破烂的音响播放流行月，惹来驱赶他们的警察。在一个高档四川餐馆，吃客们欣赏着传统的中国艺术表演：变脸和长嘴茶壶舞蹈……这是我离开七年后再回来看的中国。
Ever since I moved back to China, I often feel guilty because I haven’t been able to photograph as much and as often as I hope to. It is much more difficult to photograph Chinese people than Americans, as Chinese people are either too shy or too vigilant to be photographed. They don’t trust any stranger, like me, who want to photograph them. I still keep my habit to ask for permission beofore I take pictures. Here in China, I am often rejected. And they often look at me as if I were an alien. “Why should you want to photograph me? What do you want from me? Are you a reporter trying to dig something sensational?” They ask. If possible, I would explain what I do and some would give me permission, even though they are shy. Unfortuantely, I have been very busy this month and I haven’t really been able to spend time photographing lives being lived. What I do so far is snap some pictures on the way to work or home, or when I hang out with friends. They are just snapshots.
However, even in these snapshots, you can tell how interesting modern China is. China is almost a montage made of images from different times. On Christmas night, in the newest and most expensive district, Pearl River New Town, people wear heart-shape flashing glasses and masks and take pictures of themselves by a glistering, silver Christmas tree. It is almost like New York.
Just three subway stops away, in Yuan Cun, a low income neighborhood, a young boy, a dwarfed woman and a young girl perform in a pop song with great efforts. The boy bends down to pick up a coin while riding a bike. The dwarf shrinks herself into an iron pipe back and forth. Their music is so loud that two cops come and drive them away. They try to resist silently. They eyes are stern looking, but the cops win in the end.
In a Sichuan restaurant, customers enjoy tradional Chinese folk performances while enjoying the delicate cuisine…While there, I feel as if I went back to 100 years ago…
This is what I see in China.
Christmas in China is not the same holiday in the States. Every day, as I walk out of the subway towards my three-week office in Pearl River New Town, I hear Christmas songs. I have the feeling that they come from nowhere, but they are just there and you can’t get away from them. Then there is the Christmas decoration, a s if it is indeed a big thing. For one who has lost the sense of holiday, it is just something funny, or surreal, or unreal. I am more drawn by the genuine lives outside the expensive zone of the city, where people hardly know anything about Christmas.
圣诞将近，我每天早上去珠江新城的时候都听到圣诞歌曲，看到圣诞装饰。总觉得有点怪。一种不真实的感觉。倒是小街小巷里的场景让我感觉更真实。 
I agreed to help an editor friend editing their 2012 special issue as an editor. So for the next three weeks, I will work in a cubicle. This is something quite strange for a photographer, who is used to traveling around to hunt for pictures. Think about a wild horse tied to stable in the city! I miss roaming around and looking for pictures. I miss chattng with people I photograph. Now for three weeks, I have to stay in a cubicle and I can only snap a few pictures on the way to work or home…
