I know someone who is in China this month visiting some of the places that I visited almost two years ago. The village that I stayed in for five very cold days will – at some point in the near future – be turned into a city of apartment blocks. The land used for farming will disappear and the farmers re-housed. As I write this I am already formulating a plan to re-visit Weifang to document the changes. There are people there that will be greatly affected by these changes. Some for the better, but also some for the worse.

One of the earliest moments that I captured on film was that of children playing in a tree. I found the simplicity of that activity quite profound in that it reminded me of my own childhood when the technology-driven toys that western children take for granted today were the stuff I could only imagine with the help of science fiction. These kids had a great time playing together. It’s such a shame that the first casualty of modernisation for this village was that very same tree. I wonder how many of us who are surfing the net right now or Nintendo Wii-ing could be persuaded to abandon our tech-toys and be satisfied with an afternoon of playing in a tree with friends. I think I could be persuaded… I wish I was there.