A harmony of old and new

A harmony of old and new

Beijing is a city that straddles the divide between the ancient and the modern. From Buddhist temples to museums, cramped hutong to imperial palaces, it is home to more than 3, 000 years of captivating history even down to its layout, with the city retaining its carefully structured system of ring roads, first conceived in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), that ripple out from the Forbidden City, which sits proudly in the heart of the vast urban sprawl.

But for all its ancient wonders, Beijing is also a place that fully embraces the fast-paced development of modern life, with lofty 21st-century architectural wonders standing side by side with cultural relics of the past.

It's a distinct visual contrast that shouldn't work, yet somehow these two very different worlds manage to complement and even enhance the importance and charm of one another.

Having visited several times over the last 10 years, I became captivated by this juxtaposition of old and new, and how a city could retain such a rich heritage while constantly evolving and embodying modern life. So, when I finally made the move here in early 2020, I jumped at the opportunity to explore as much as I could, and as a keen photographer, I have spent the last two years recording everything I discovered, the people and the places, through my lens.

I started with the obvious, the Forbidden City, Jingshan Park, the Summer Palace, the Lama Temple, all the locations one would expect to see on a " top 10 places to visit" list.