My night of magic with Gong Li

Okay, I lied. One more little thing before we get on to the chronological portion. A little off topic here but I thought you might enjoy this. This was taken in New York, in between my first and second trips to China. Gong Li is a huge movie star in China. She stars in more than one of my favorite movies. She was in town promoting the new Zhang Yimou movie she was in, "Curse of the Golden Flower." A friend of mine who's a reporter was assigned to interview Ms. Li. She asked if I wanted to be her photographer. I said yes.

Working with limited equipment and light and skill, this is what I came up with. Gong Li, of course, recognized upon seeing me that I am more of a swordsman than a photographer and invited me to prove my skill. I'm not one to kiss and tell but let's just say my friend left without me whereupon I did much to reduce our trade deficit with China, if you will.



Here's Gong Li goofing off with me after the interview waiting for my friend to take the hint and leave us alone.



[NOTE: Everything in this travelogue is the god's honest truth, except for one little lie. If you can spot that one lie, you may be eligible for a prize.]

Okay, on to the chronologically organized remainder of this travelogue.