Ryan Pyle Blog: Newsweek "Year in Images"

Hello.

I'm very honored to have been included in 2009's edition of Newsweek's "The Year in Images" issue. It's always nice to have your work recognized and it's even nicer to have one of your images published as a defining image of the year. I'm very proud to have a strong relationship with Newsweek. They've been very supportive of my work in China and I've throughly enjoyed my collaboration with their editors on every occasion.

The image chosen, see above, was of the BaLing Bridge. The bridge is a massive suspension bridge in rural China that is set to help connect the Southwestern cities of Guiyang and Kunming, two relative backwaters that could very well be at the forefront of China's next round of powerful economic growth.

The image was used, by Newsweek, as an example of China's stimulus package of USD 585 billion - which mainly went to infrastructure projects like this one. While the bridge was obviously planned, and construction had begun, well before the financial crisis it is nonetheless a symbol of China's commitment to connecting the countryside with the wealth and business opportunities enjoyed in coastal cities and provinces.

I'm not an economist, but I guess if China keeps spending on infrastructure and helping more businesses tap cheap land and labor further inland even more rural residents will be lifted from poverty and China's industrial revolution could very well continue for another decade or more. Fingers crossed these infrastructure projects get used and help deliver real progress and improvement in people's lives. China doesn't have much more room for anymore "white elephants".

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Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
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Ryan Pyle Blog: Ba Ling Bridge

Hello.

I recently had the opportunity to visit a region of China that has often been overlooked during China's sprint towards modernity, and that region is the province of Guizhou. Guizhou is landlocked and mountainous, meaning it has missed out on China's industrial expansion, export manufacturing and farming innovations. The province is one of China's poorest and has been considered a lost hinterland for centuries. With that being said, the central government is now sprinkling money throughout many of China's rural backwaters in an effort to increase transportation links and re-connect this massive country; as well as help out areas of depressed growth. The Ba Ling River Bridge is one of the most visually telling examples of Beijing's efforts to "bridge the gap" between China's wealthier and poorer regions. The bridge is set to connect the capital city of Guizhou province, Guiyang, with the capital of Yunnan province, Kunming; one of the most mountainous and transport defunct regions of China as deep river gorges and mountain ranges are scattered along the route. I recently visited the bridge and was granted unprecedented access, but for only about an hour as the construction boss was on a long lunch. I even had time to climb the 40+ story suspension tower, which was a treat in high wind. Please follow the link below to view the work:

LINK: Click Here for Gallery

Summary:
The Ba Ling River Bridge, due to be completed in early 2010, is one of China's longest suspension bridges. Measuring 1.4 miles (2.25km) the project is a marvel of Chinese engineering that looks wholly out of place among rural Guizhou provinces farms and rice fields. The Ba Ling River Bridge, soaring a quarter of a mile (400m) above the Ba Ling River, is an example of large-scale infrastructure projects that are being built throughout China in an effort to modernize China's vast western hinterland.

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Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
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