Last Friday I headed up to the university to meet Beryl and to watch her universities sports day together. It was a pretty neat experience! It was baking hot, and a good day for chilling out in the grandstands.
^ A shot from where I was sitting in the stadium, so you get the idea...
Here are some random shots:
^ 5, 6, 7, 8!
^ Honda... representin'!
^ Olympic flag, PRC flac and the university flag, with one of the university buildings in the background.
^ Beryl hiding from the sun with my baseball cap
^ Still / non-carbonated Red Bull! Tasty stuff. The translation in Chinese is litrally "Red" "Bull".
^ "23!"
^ Coca-Cola gets everywhere
^ I was playing around with using the flash for fill lighting, getting rid of the shadows from the baseball cap. I quite like the result :)
^ Managed to get trackside for some photos :)
^ Number 2... so close, yet so far from number 1.
^ Pepsi representing against the Coca-Cola. There's a sea of umbrellas... not for rain; but to hide from the sun. Chinese people (girls) hate the sun / sun-tans.
^ One of my favourite shots of the day. One of the female 4x100m relay runners
^ Flags! Woo hoo!
^ The finish line
^ Beryl! :)
^ More pretty colours
Some random crowd shots:
^ Seas of Han, most rocking the university's PE uniform...
^ Cowboy hat AND a megaphone. Undeniable coolness.
^ You can see a guy beating on a huge drum and those girls next to the banner were chanting some stuff. It was a good atmosphere!
^ As well as people getting jiggy with the cymbals
^ More umbrellas and caps
^ A couple of judges baking in the sun, working through a lot of water
^ Chinese translation is awesome. I saw this hat in a shop the other day, but didn't have my camera. Thankfuly someone was stupid enough to buy it. "I AM TRUCK CAP."
^ Umbrella - ella - ella
^ I AM TRUCK CAP, YOU ARE BINOCULAR
^ A flag with a star. I thought it was rad.
^ Did I mention they like umbrellas?
^ Beryl still with my cap
^ The pictures don't show it, but it was HOT
^ Beryl on the football pitch thats in the middle of the running track
I had a thing of taking photos of people who were taking photos:
^ Its me! Check me out with the purple / pink / blue.
^ about £1200 of kit. If you consider how little most Chinese people get paid, thats a lot of moolah.
^ This guy almost looked as cool as me
Then finally, some action shots. :)
^ The day started with a skipping race between the faculty. Funny stuff.
^ Ready......set....
^ The expressions on their faces are priceless
^ "VTEC Just kicked in, yo!"
^ I like the photo-finish-esq nature of this shot
^ A change-over in the womens 4x100 relay
^ Run, run, run!
^ "...Go!"
^ One of the foreign teachers at the university, Chirstina, taking part in a relay
^ 3000km race
^ A few laps later
^ winners of the women's relay
^ dude changing the "laps left" board
^ Little dude ringing the bell for final lap
^ Team uniforms and everything. These guys were serious.
^ The shorts were a bit short for my liking
^ It was quite a good place to take pictures from
^ Lots of people were watching the racing through their tiny camera LCD screens
^ Relay hand-over
^ Mid-corner
^4x400meter relay. These guys SPRINTED the whole 400meters. Some seriously quick Chinamen. This guy number 48 was awesome. He sat off at full chant, mouth-closed, and a totally expressionless face.
^ Mid-corner, still no expression
^ One lap later, he was a bit less composed...
^ ...and ready to collapse
^ Number 2 being watched eagerly by number 1
^ Some minor drama when two of the relay guys were in the wrong lanes
^ People running with their tongue hanging out their mouth
^ Beryl, complete with funky laces
^ and finally, the all-star race. As you can see, the grandstands were packed. :-)
It was a good day! :-)
