Dear Reader, In case you wondered - no, Laoguiyang isn't quite dead yet. Perhaps you thought, after having read the last post on this blog (Nov 2021! How time flies!) that I have fallen into absolute despair about the state of my beloved City and decided to move out or worse. I'm not going to lie - seeing all the horrible and unevitable changes to the City did make me feel rather depressed and gloomy. I felt as if whatever I did I failed to capture the very essence of Guiyang which kept slipping through my fingers, leaving me with nothing more than a vague notion of having touched something more than there is. It resulted in me sulking and suffering from a pretty bad writers block; as with everything I ever do, I simply can't force myself to do it if I don't feel the desire coming straight from the heart. That does not mean that I have been uninspired for the entire last year - I was just looking for different ways of expressing myself, and also different ways to see the City and to grasp its meaning to me.
Looking for the inspiration bore the most unexpected fruit. Firstly, I have initiated a charity movement to help Guiyang stray and abandon cats, which has by now turned into something much bigger than I would have ever dreamt it to. We are not opening a shelter for those poor souls that we have managed to rescue thanks to combined efforts of both local people and the Guiyang expat community. It made me understand that there is no way to explain the great mystery of the City without giving yourself to it unconditionally and doing something that has actual impact on the urban life around us. Secondly, I've decided to realise a childhood dream and get myself a real motorcycle. Now this is, you might say Dear Reader, something impossibly selfish and not quite related to the well-being of the City (pollution and all that). Yet, it has allowed me to see both Guiyang and the entire Guizhou province from a completely new perspective - the Gurren in Guizhou youtube project feels like the missing piece, something to fill in the gap created by the static nature of writing and photography. Velocity has turned out to be most inspiring to me, and all things I do. And videos - a medium priorly quite unknown to me - has turned out to be an amazing new way to reach my family, friends, and all my followers. I'm really hoping you can enjoy it as much as I do, Dear Reader. Lastly, I have had a chance to hold my first, tiny and very amateurish Guiyang photography exhibition. This is something I'd like to dedicate a separate piece to, and to describe the purpose of it as well as the pictures I have chosen in length. I will be working on expanding the photo section of this website, as well as making it a hub for the entirety of my Guiyang project. The City deserves more than me limiting myself to just one medium, and now I see this is where the key is - you can only describe chaos with chaos. Beautiful chaos. Anyway, I'm going to take a stroll now and enjoy some cool autumn air (it does smell really bad outside thought the last few days, typical...). I would like to write some more about the lockdown we have all been suffering from last month, as this has also been a turning point for me - it has taught me to appreciate the City 🌃 once more, however it is. More on that later. Thank you Dear Reader, for sticking around with From Guiyang With Love. Please check the new section of the website with the video content!
Yours, Laoguiyang