33 years of changing China as seen through the lens of a Scottish photographer
In his explorations of China, his adopted homeland, teacher turned broadcaster Bruce Connolly documented the country as it underwent extraordinary changes
In the summer of 1986, I completed a circular journey around Scandinavia,” says Beijing-based Scotsman Bruce Connolly, who, then 39, was already a seasoned world traveller. “At the end of the trip, I caught sight of a train from Moscow in Helsinki station; I’d never imagined that you might be able to take a train through the USSR before.”
Connolly had to return to his native Glasgow, where he taught geography at a local high school, but the idea of an eastbound train journey festered during the long, dark months of a Scottish winter. Frustrated and depressed, Connolly headed to the nearest travel agency to see what might kindle some inspiration.
“I was just turning 40 […] I sat in a Glasgow pub and over a beer, browsed the brochures I’d picked up. I soon realised you could go all the way by train from Glasgow Central Station to Hong Kong. I decided to use my summer holiday in 1987 to make the journey. I called it my ‘ultimate dream.’”
Connolly had no idea how profoundly this transcontinental odyssey would change his life, transforming a man who was “entirely ignorant of China” into a passionate Sinophile, who would travel the length and breadth of the country as a photographer, tour guide, radio host, writer and educator. Thirty-three years on, now aged 73, it is a journey he has yet to complete.
Born in 1947, Connolly grew up in Glasgow when “there were still tram cars” and the city “smelled of coal”.
“My family lived quite near the docks where boats came in from all over the world, from Africa and India,” he says. “The people on the ships seemed so different. You heard languages you could never understand. I soon realised there was much more to life beyond the banks of the River Clyde.”