Hi, I'm glad you stopped by.
My name is Lizbeth. Grab a panda and join me as I leave Las Vegas in pursuit of adventure in China's tea houses, classrooms, dirt roads, and industrial cities. I shoot with a Nikon D3100 and am sharing my journey through it's lens.
Share with me, talk to me, ask me: Feel free to leave any questions or thoughts in the ask box below.
Photography by Lizbeth Arias is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Day 28 - Daily Routine
(30 Day Photo Challenge)
The definition of hole-in-the-wall.
This isn’t exactly a daily thing, but I go to this place enough for it to feel like it. It’s called 平和烧烤, or Peace Barbecue. It’s not barbecue in the American sense, it refers to any kind of grilled or stir-fried meat and vegies. I’ve posted the second picture before, but not the first.
Day 27 - After Dark (B)
(30 Day Photo Challenge)
Tianfu Square and Chairman Mao in Chengdu, Sichuan
Day 26 - Something Old (Belated)
(30 Day Photo Challenge)
These are the apartment buildings in front of the international student dorms.
Day 25 - Sunflare
(30 Day Photo Challenge)
Day 23 - Sunset
(30 Day Photo Challenge)
Capturing a picture of the sunset in Chengdu is a challenge I’m not willing to take on. Of course the days are not normally dark. Days are lit by a bright grey sky. Direct sunlight (and the sun itself) are hidden behind layers and layers of things I don’t necessarily want described to me. Beyond those layers, I’m sure you could see the sun retreat behind the horizon. What I see is instead similar to what happens when you slowly pull down the switch of a light dimmer.
As such, today I will provide you with two sunsets which I captured last year at home.
- The first is the sunsetting behind the New York, New York Resort and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip.
- The second is a photo I took in Vegas near the Nellis Air Force Base. I got out of my car and was stunned by what looked like swirls of lava overtaking a blanket of blue.
Day 22 - Trees
(30 Day Photo Challenge)
In front of Chengdu’s Museum of Modern Art.
Nikon D3100
Day 21 - Pretty Pattern
(30 Day Photo Challenge)
I bought these Tibetan tea cups from Western Sichuan a few weeks ago. A Tibetan lady had a variety of these on a shelf in her store, it was hard not to buy all of them.
I really love the color and the design. Is this technically a pattern? I don’t know, but I’m using it anyway.
Day 20 - What I Read (Belated)
(30 Day Photo Challenge)
I bought this from a bookstand by the dorms months ago. It has the English and Mandarin Chinese translation side by side. First time reading it.
Day 19 - Where I Slept (Belated)
(30 Day Photo Challenge)
Nikon D3100
Day 18 - In My Bag
(30 Day Photo Challenge)
My red bag has become shapeless and useless for proper storage. Everything just piles together as they would in a trash bag. It has taken a beating though, as it’s served as my backpack, travel bag, grocery bag, etc… Now that I’m in class everyday, you’ll basically always find the same items inside of it:
- wallet
- Chinese books
- notebook
- Chapstick
- tissues (because in China, you don’t go anywhere without tissues)
- an oversized pencil bag/case
- cell phone
- iPhone (mainly for it’s dictionary and Voxer abilities).
- bottle of water (usually not empty).
Nikon D3100
Day 17 - On the Shelf
(30 Day Photo Challenge)
Day 16 - What I Ate
(30 Day Photo Challenge)
I spend a couple hours on Sunday afternoons tutoring an eleven year old boy named Bill. We go over his English homework, I correct his pronunciation, and I basically get paid to hang out with a really cool kid. Today, he gave me my first lesson in Chinese chess. After our tutoring sessions, I always join his family for dinner. His wonderfully kind mother not only cooks, but also helps me with my Chinese.
For dinner we had mashed potatoes, green beans, beef, dried fish, rabbit in a spicy peanut sauce, sticky rice, salted peanuts, bamboo (imported from the Bamboo Sea in Northern Sichuan), and green chili peppers in some type of sweet vinegar sauce (amazing). It is such a strange and interesting experience to be eating with Bill’s parents, grandparents, and neighbors. The Chinese dining experience is completely different from the American one. Everyone eats super fast while quickly spitting out bones in their discard bowl, they eat loudly (very loudly), and of course there is no such thing as individually served plates. Everything is always lazy susan style. To top it off, I’m surrounded with rapid conversation in Sichuanese, which is considerably different from Mandarin. It’s kind of crazy.
I wish I would’ve gotten better pictures, but this is all I could manage.
Day 15 - My Shoes
(30 Day Photo Challenge)
My shoes have covered more ground in this country than I ever thought they would.
I can’t believe I’m already half way done with this challenge. I’m going to try and make the best of my last fifteen days in 成都。
Day 14 - Flowers
(30 Day Photo Challenge)
This police car in Chengdu had a big bundle of purple flowers in the trunk. That was definitely a first. I saw many more of those same flowers in town.
Day 13 - From a Distance, Belated
(30 Day Photo Challenge)
Tibetan father holding his baby.
I spotted this little family from across the street and waved. The father and his bundled up baby returned a smile and a photo opp.
Nikon D3100
