Tianshui is the second-largest city in China’s northwestern Gansu Province. Less severely impacted by COVID-19 than other areas, Tianshui is beginning to find its pulse as restrictions lift and the colours and quickening step of spring brightens warmer days. This gallery of recovery snapshots captures one city’s return to a new (but different) normal.
Said to be the hometown of one of the three wise kings from the beginning of the dynastic period, the city of Tianshui is rooted in ancient Chinese culture, including historical relics and written history spanning thousands of years. Home to more than 3.5 million, modern Tianshui is the second-largest city in northwestern Gansu Province and can be seen here, in the softening days of spring, resuming the business of life again.
The following photographs were taken between March 21 and April 14 by a journalist who calls Tianshui their home. (Name withheld for reasons of safety).
-
- Kites are back!
-
- Lots of kites for sale.
-
- The city’s farmers’ markets reopen.
-
- Marketing and masks …
-
- The new normal.
-
- Colour returns to warmer days.
-
- Relaxing in nature, side by side.
-
- No masks!
-
- The joy of touch.
-
- Cautiously chic.
-
- Stopping to chat again.
-
- Out and about.
-
- Many shops and schools remain closed but the daily business of life resumes.
-
- Chess mates.
-
- Matching in masks.
-
- Sitting to dine but things are not quite the same.
-
- Traffic is drastically reduced.
-
- Markets are starting to look as they once did.
-
- Nothing stops nature.
-
- Sign of the times.
-
- Space to reflect.
-
- Chilly enough to rock coats.
-
- Still masked but less distance.
-
- The city from here.
-
- Nice day for a tentative stroll.
-
- On a clear day you can see … a long way.
-
- All is calm for now.
-
- Better days at last.
-
- Some legendary sights. The Maijishan Grottoes are around 35km southeast of Tianshui.
-
- Some of the most famous Buddhist rock carvings along the Silk Road can be found here.
-
- The theme is Buddhist but variation between the statues is significant.
Categories: Probe International in the News, Uncategorized
Patricia Adams
Dai Qing
Fan Xiao
Lawrence Solomon
Mu Lan
Probe International
Lisa Peryman
Probe Media
Other News Sources
Probe International 
Wonderful. Thanks for posting. I loved my visit to China in 2001.
Can you report on the project that Janine Benyus and HOK were doing in Lang Fang, a different part of China, I know, but a part toxified by agriculture and at risk of losing its ancient aquifer. I hope you can find out more than I could with a lengthy search that did not turn up much. Cheers for your work.