Everything is changing all the time: stores, restaurants, people, and all surroundings. However, there are enough things that are staying unchanged, which are things that people want to keep unchanged. It is hard to change how people think. In the past twenty years, China has been developed rapidly. Thousands of modern buildings seem as if they appeared over night. Conversely, there are some things that stayed the same during these twenty years: food, culture, and beliefs. The photo “Full Moon over Old China,” is depicting the difference between the modern style and the traditional manner of architecture and environment. Through this photo, I would like to specifically look into the things that have not been changed and how people think about them.

To begin with, all human beings live on the earth; we stand on the same land, and we breathe the same air. At the same time, people have different beliefs, and they have different perspectives of the sky. But the sky above us is never changed. The contents in the sky may change. Sometimes it is cloudy while other time it is not. Sometimes there is a half-moon, sometime there is a full-moon. Similarly, there are lots of different meanings for the moon. There is a difference between the Chinese’ view of the moon compared to most of other countries. Chinese consider the moon as a round table for dinner where everyone needs to show up, and spend time together at least once per year. On the other hand, some people believe that the moon can stand for the future where people are writing lots of poems about the moon and giving wishes to their future. In the opposite way, the picture “Full Moon over Old China,” has a deep, dark image of a night sky. We can see the cloudy sky with the circle of a clear full moon. We can tell from this photo that the night sky is the background, which has been put enhanced to emphasize the dark color. This darkness brings a feeling of negativity to the audience, which is totally reversed from the crowed street and the golden building seen in the picture as well. However, is the point that catches most people’ attention. The dark night brings people loneness compare to the crowed street. The Chinese believe that the full moon is a symbol for families to reunite. There is even a festival called “Zhong Qiu,” when people celebrate the time they are spending with their family. Even though we can see the strong contrasts between the old and the new surrounding from the past till now, there is still another fact that has not been changed: the architecture of the traditional building.

Furthermore, I will discuss the lighted building, which has a strong contrast against the dark sky. If we look at the foreground of this photo, there are lots of buildings covered by all different kinds of lanterns and lights. These buildings have a traditional Chinese appearance, which has lasted from hundreds of years ago. However, that keeps these buildings, even when they do not have an emperor anymore. As we step into the 20th century, everything becomes more modern. People change from riding a horse to riding a car, and from living in a big house to a high apartment. If we scrutinize this phot carefully, all the details besides the buildings’ exterior can help us to distinguish that, everything inside the stores is the product of the 21st century. This includes huge signboards, traffic lights and the LED lights. People have changed all the interiors of the buildings, because they need more technology to support their business. Conversely, the traditional outlook of the stores is the drawing card that attracts more customers. Tourists are willing to buy things that contain cultural features and the appearance of the buildings capitalizes on this. At the same time, the tourists are willing to give labels to things that they do not know, and they will believe that the products inside the store are all rarities. So, we are not changing the exterior of these buildings because their appearance is and icon of Chinese culture. We are proud of it, and we are not willing to change all the things that are created by history.

Third, on the bottom of the picture, you can see the numerous people walking on the street, either going into the store or finding a restaurant. In China, people are good at enjoying their lives because thousands of years ago, people created the habit of walking out on the street, eating and shopping. At the same time, they created the night market. Therefore, people show their willingness to go out and enjoy the environment rather than stay at home. Besides, if you look at the left bottom of the photo, you can see there are very few cars driving through this street. It looks very difficult to drive forward, while people are standing right in the middle of the crowdy street. It seems like the traffic light is a decoration, causing it to look out of order. No one complains about it, and no driver will honk at the people. It is hard to change one’s habit. Therefore, it is even harder to change a nation’s habit, while there are so many Chinese populations. I believe that the crowded atmosphere in China relays the feeling of home to all the Chinese. We enjoy it, so we live with it.

 In the end, this photo was taken to show the new generations of the Chinese. People because the younger generations are changing over time as they absorb all different kinds of information from around the world. This includes their beliefs, their living styles and even their language. I do not consider this a bad thing, but this photo is reminding them. However, the Chinese is changing in order to develop, they cannot forget where we came from. Meanwhile, the overall design of this picture is helpful in demonstrating the prominent comparison of the old-style appearance of buildings and the modern interior of these buildings. The background of the dark sky, which stand out to illustrate the dark future for people who still fanaticism of modern life to give up the traditional value. This picture is drawing on out my emotions of missing home, which let me realize how important my Chinese history and traditions really are. China need to develop, but it is not using the premise of giving up all these traditions.  
