Beijing, Sep. 2026: A 10-Photo Story

This photo series records a short night bike trip. The first six images shows I set off from my school building and rode to another school to pick up my friend after their evening self-study. We spent twenty minutes together, and the last four shows the way back to my own school.

There are two "School Ahead" signs: the first marks my friend's school gate, and the second appears when I return to my school.

Traffic lights kind of tells the mood of the journey. On my way there, I was in a hurry but kept hitting long red lights. On the ride back I cycled calmly and relaxed, and got green lights all the way. The other photos captured snapshots along the whole journey.

What I love most about nights like this is simply riding my bike passing through tree shadows and glowing streetlights, listening to the hum of cars, feeling the cool evening breeze, and humming songs to myself. Even though we only spent a couple of minutes together, the whole journey - the ride there, and the time we shared felt completely worth it. Although it is short, I enjoyed every moment. Even with our schools apart, by reaching for one another, we can still connect and meet.

(This is an audio clip I recorded along the ride. The wind sounded like my heartbeat, cars passed by me, then faded away.)

Taiping Rd.m4a file

Before I started, I have been thinking about how photos tell a story. A single photo is just a frozen second, but when you put several of them together, they start to connect. What makes photo narrative interesting is that it doesn't show everything. It leaves out the sounds and the feelings, allowing the viewer to imagine the rest.