A man in a white hat approaching me on a summer’s day on a road in old central Beijing sometime in 2010. He came with the sun! He was related to the woman sitting on the horse cart on the other side, and curious why I was curious about them. In the process, I took one of my best pictures ever. Thank you, man in white hat. It was just that one moment in time.
The full picture, unedited. The trees, the shadow and the sun make for a perfect shot of how things really were in those days. Yes, many streets were quiet, with almost no people or cars!
This was on the edge of the hutong area to the north of Dongzhimen, that’s very central Beijing. Much of it has since been destroyed and replaced by larger building and ever more roads. I am not entirely sure if this particular corner still exists but I sure hope it does.
Until about 2010 it was quite normal to see horse drawn carriages in the capital in summer, bringing in fruit and vegetables from the nearby countryside and selling it straight from the cart. On warm days in the weekends you could see them on every street corner. Today they are no longer allowed inside the Fifth Ring Road, but out there and further you can still find plenty.
I briefly talked with the man with the white hat. I explained I was from Holland and was interested in every kind of transportation in China. He felt cool about that. We smoked a cigarette, I said goodbye, and was back on my way.