北京: Portrait of a City

Alexandra Pearson

Odyssey Publications, Limited, Jan 10, 2009 - Photography - 170 pages

Beijing: Portrait of a City is the shared work of some of Beijing's finest storytellers, authors and academics: James Kynge, Zhu Wen, Adam Williams, Roy Kesey, Ma Jian, Alfreda Murck, Tim Clissold, Catherine Sampson, Peter Hessler, Karen Smith, Paul French, Michael Aldridge, Hong Ying and Rob Gifford.

The contributors all experts in their field lead us through hutong alleys, antique markets, artists' communities, gay bars, parks and the nostalgic streets of memory. They beguile with poems, amuse with camel anecdotes and thrill with two murder stories--one a genuine antique, the other a fictional contemporary. They take us back to the often-ignored Mongolian roots of the city and project forward to ask whether spectacular modern architecture will suffice to return Beijing to what it sees as its ancient place at the center of the world.

About the author

Alexandra Pearson came to China in 1982 as the daughter of a diplomat in the British Embassy. Since graduation Alex has started several cultural and business enterprises, and is the founder and one of the owners of The Bookworm, China, an English language library/restaurant cum cultural center that hosts authors from all over the world. She resides in Beijing.

Lucy Cavender went to Beijing as a student in the mid-1980s and then moved there with her family in 1997 and stayed there for ten years. Her photographic subjects include many well-known writers, artists and, of course, Beijingers. She is based in London.

Bibliographic information

• Title: 北京: Portrait of a City; Odyssey Books and Guide Series
• Editor: Alexandra Pearson
• Photographs by: Lucy Cavender
• Compiled by: Alexandra Pearson, Lucy Cavender
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Odyssey Publications, Limited, 2009
• ISBN: 9622178030, 9789622178038
• Length: 170 pages
• Subjects: Photography / Subjects & Themes / Regional; Travel / Pictorials