Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal35Multi-decade visual chronicler of changes,
First person to hike the Three Gorges on foot,
Former Deputy Director of the Art & Photography and Editorial Departments at People’s China magazine.
His works “Sacred Silence” and “Returning Flock” won the silver and bronze awards respectively at the14National Photography Art Exhibition. He has reported and photographed over thirty natural and cultural heritage sites in China listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.2002Year photojournalistic book Hiking the Three Gorges, with text by the author.
This editionlive,There's a super duper hugegift
at the end of the article: photography works by Teacher Liu Shizhao www.rayoutdoor.com/4178.html
Note: The content includes a particularly large number of images, featuring many1981year1982photos, including precious imagery, as well as comparative shots of the same locations from the80s and the2016s.
[Editor’s Note]1979From the year2016to the present — from the first year of reform and opening up to now — China, from north to south, has been undergoing tremendous and earth-shaking changes: from having enough to eat to eating well, from having electricity and telephones to mobile internet and online shopping. Time flows like a mighty river, pushing us forward.
When the past, old memories, and antiquities gradually fade away, we often think: what if we could see the contrast? It stirs emotions — whether it’s awe, nostalgia, excitement, sighs, or regrets.
1981In the400, a reporter for People’s China magazine, Liu Shizhao, spent over5000days cycling along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, covering more than
35kilometers, capturing images of the local customs and life along the canal;
years later, Liu Shizhao retraced his original cycling path along the Grand Canal, setting out on the road once again to reshape the canal’s visual history. Recorder
1981year5month.
Liu Shizhao, a photojournalist from the magazine People's China, and Shen Xingda, a writer, rode specially allocated Forever brand bicycles—obtained through backdoor channels and special approval from the Tianjin Forever Bicycle Factory—‘through unofficial means’and special permission, to begin their coverage of the Beijing section of the Grand Canal.
6Month19, they set off from the Tonghui River, leaving Beijing, to embark on a cultural and geographical journey along the Grand Canal, with Hangzhou as their final destination.
Today’s Tonghui River has clear, rippling waters, where anglers are often seen casting their lines and enjoying the pleasure of fishing. To the east of the Tonghui River lies the Gaobeidian Classical Furniture Market, which lights up at night and is a renowned antique culture street in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. During certain festivals, pleasure boats also cruise the waterways.
The site of the Qingfeng Sluice on the Tonghui River
Local residents, upon seeing the journalists, repeatedly urged them to report the situation to the relevant authorities, hoping for early remediation.
Beijing City The site of the Qingfeng Sluice on the Tonghui River (1981year)
Beijing City, Tong County
The Pingjin Upper Sluice on the Tonghui River in Gaobeidian (1981year)
You think this is the end? Well, it’s not.
Looking at the overall flow of the canal, the north has little water while the south has more. Water becomes especially precious, so even such limited water is used for irrigation in some areas. Not far outside Beijing, in one village, Liu Shizhao witnessed a curious scene: a nearly dried-up riverbed had been excavated with a channel that diverted the remaining water into a pit. Then, a pump was used to draw water from the pit to irrigate the fields.
Can crops grown with such water be safe to eat?
The party secretary at the time said that villagers’ health might be affected by0.2%toxins.
Passing through the Tonghui River, entering Tianjin, then through Qingxian in Hebei → Cangzhou → Botou → Wuqiao → Dezhou → Ancient City → Linqing → Liaocheng → Dong'e → Yanggu → Yellow River → Liangshan → Dongping → Nanshang → Jiaxiang → Jining (Yanzhou, Qufu, Zou County) → Yutai → Weishan → Xuzhou → Pei County → Suqian → Huaiyin → Huai'an → Gaoyou (Xinghua) → Baoying → Jiangdu → Yangzhou → Zhenjiang → Danyang → Changzhou → Wuxi → Suzhou → Jiaxing → Huzhou → Hangzhou
From1981year5month to1983year January, over the course of404days, the total distance traveled was5000Over a distance of more than 1,000 kilometers, Liu Shizhao, a photojournalist, and Shen Xingda, a writer from People’s China magazine, conducted interviews along the way53in [number missing] counties77and [number missing] towns and villages, speaking with thousands of people. Their work was published in [number missing] consecutive issues and was reprinted by multiple media outlets. Today, the written and visual materials have become valuable historical documents.27The issue was reprinted by multiple media outlets. Today, the written and visual materials have become valuable historical documents.
The Mission of a Journalist
Liu Shizhao lives in a six-story red-brick building in Beijing’s East Third Ring Road. Tall and slender, with an elegant demeanor, it’s hard to believe he is already69years old.
1968He graduated from high school in1969, then went to the countryside in Inner Mongolia, where he worked at a quarry swinging a sledgehammer to break rocks.1975He returned to Beijing in 1979, became an apprentice to the renowned photographer Huang Xiang, and studied photography.1981In
, he joined the People’s China magazine as a photojournalist,1981and in
‘, he was assigned to begin his cycling interview journey along the Grand Canal.’However, due to limitations at the time, and in order to save film, many precious images were not captured through the lens. This has been a lasting regret for Liu Shizhao ever since his Grand Canal reporting assignment. The only consolation—and partial remedy—was the daily interview notes and journal he kept, which together add up to a stack about ten centimeters high.
The records are very incomplete; I was taking photos for much of the time,
Liu Shizhao said.
There was also a farmer uncle who cycled with them for a stretch. At the time, he couldn’t understand: “I can already eat my fill—what’s the use of reform and opening up?”
His impression of Cangzhou back then, aside from the majestic Iron Lion, was that the dishes in small restaurants were extremely salty—two people couldn’t finish a plate of green pepper and potato shreds;
Are there still boat-dwelling people who live on boats as their homes? Do they still live that way now?
The quietly serene Weishan Lake in the song,1981Back in the year 2000, overfishing had left no fish to catch. There should be fish now, right?.
Children at the farmers' market in Huai'an County, Jiangsu Province (1982year)
Every time he flips through these photos, Liu Shizhao wonders,35Years have passed, the stars have shifted, times have changed, what changes has time brought toTApeople?
81The trip back in the year 2000 felt like one’s youth. He wants to knowTAwhat they look like now.
For many days and nights, Teacher Liu Shizhao was tormented by these thoughts, unable to sleep peacefully. In his career as a journalist, he believes his two most important achievements were cycling along the Grand Canal for an inspirational journey and hiking the Yangtze River Three Gorges for another. Now, retracing the Three Gorges on foot is no longer possible.
So, after an interval of35years, in the year2016, Liu Shizhao set out on his cycling journey along the Grand Canal once again, beginning his 1,600-kilometer, 40-day voyage along the canal.21561,6006740
This is his mission — he must complete it, there is no other choice.