Taking a guided tour in China means going where and when the travel company says...and there's hell to pay if you want to drive half a mile up the road to see the Olympic stadium. My partner's desire to drive a few yards off the proscribed path was the subject of considerable angst. Being an ancient land, the tourist attractions of today are the tourist attractions of 100 years ago as well. Recently, I acquired a fine set of China views by Stereo Travel Co. While perusing the cards I recognized a couple of views. So, here we have Stereo Travel's views from 100 years ago, and my own similar shots from 2007. Because I took my photos before buying the Stereo Travel set, the similarity of the compositions is pure coincidence. |
The Temple of Heaven, where the emperor worshiped and animals were sacrificed. They left that extra little factoid out of the description. |
The unsinkable marble boat. Doesn't everybody have one? If I had the stereo card before traveling to Beijing it would have been fun to try and match the angle exactly. It looks as if the building on the right in 1902 has gone missing in 2007. My modern stereo shot is a mess because my exotic modern stereo camera fu@#ed up. I wonder how many shots my predecessor ruined along the way? |