Approaching Mount Fuji from the Old Village What a perfect place this is!I’ve been to Japan many times, but I never had the chance to visit Mt. Fuji! This time, Tom and I made a point to do it, and this was one of our fist stops. You can see much more about it in the video above!- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
The Royal Guard in Beijing The interior space and design of the Capitol Museum is absolutely amazing. I don’t know if they designed the light to do this in the middle of the day or not, but I found it rather striking! If the architects did this on purpose, then even more kudos to them.I must admit that I do not find all museums to be equally interesting. Some are just plain boring. Others are awesome… it depends on if the subject matter is something that is up my alley. I don’t like the “pressure” of making you feel bad if you aren’t fascinated by every little thing in a museum… that is silly.Like, for example, I found this museum a little bit boring. I know a bit about Chinese history (I played a lot of Romance of the Three Kingdoms back in the day, and I was always Gu Yu!), but I get a bit confused when it comes to the some of the more bizarre and abstract lineages. Anyway, this museum featured a lot of that. But, on the plus side, the architecture was so cool that it kept me pleasantly distracted!- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Old Boats in the Afternoon Maybe I arrived in the low part of the tourist season, but I rarely saw these boats out and about on the river. They were always tied up here on the dockside. This was good for me, since it allowed many easy shots after I got around all the slippery bits. BTW, if you are by a dock in a small town in China, and the dock looks slippery, well it probably is SUPER SLIPPERY. That’s my little hard-earned piece of advice for the day…- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Feeding Chooks in Feng Huang When in Feng Huang, I decided to go down to the river to take some photos. There was a direct way, but I thought it might be more interesting to zig-zag my way there through alleys. One of the most wonderful things about China is how safe it is. I never had any fear for my life or anything as I move around these places. It’s so safe, in fact, that it’s almost eerie! But, eerie in a good way, of course…- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Boat in Feng Huang
It was a cool and calm afternoon in the ancient and impossible town of Feng Huang. It's an old town, wreathed in many legends.

On the old river, you can occasionally see a boat passing here and there. The boatmen come in all shapes and sizes, but many wear the same hat and style. It is absolutely like a warp of time...

- Trey Ratcliff

Read more here at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Last Night in Austin

I was down on South Congress having a little secret dinner meeting about this new app we are building… and then the sun started to go down.  Did I have my camera and tripod?  Yes yes… of course..  if you invite me to dinner, chances are I'll be bringing them along.  

I waited for the right moment before running into the middle lane to get this.  It was… exciting.  Perhaps a bit more exciting than I anticipated…  but, I grabbed it, then stopped at a little local market to get some goodies to gnaw on while driving back home...

- Trey Ratcliff

Read more here at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Still Waters in the Old Town
Feng Huang in the morning is very peaceful.  It might even be one of those towns were a lot of people sleep late, since I didn't see many in the morning.  It was at this very spot that I bruised my ribs pretty bad when I fell down.  It was one of those slick mud-covered concrete areas that doesn't look like a slick mud-covered concrete area.  But once you step on, it's way too late to do anything about it.  There's nothing that knocks the wind out of you more than falling flat on your torso with a Nikon D3S between your ribs and the ground.  I still wince when I think about it!

- Trey Ratcliff

Read the rest of this entry here at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Adorable Chinese Girl  
So, maybe the full title of this photo should be what I realized after I took the photo: "Adorable Chinese Girl OMG I Think She's About To Pee On The Street".   But she didn't.  She was just in that position.  And her pants are kinda funky.  Or maybe those are leg-warmers or something.  I don't know... it's all confusing.  Her mom was right by her, sitting on a set and eating rice.  She smiled at me, and was very excited when I was taking a photo.  Or maybe she was laughing because she thought it was funny I was trying to take a photo while her daughter was about to go to the bathroom.  I really can't say!

But I did see lots of kids go to the bathroom in the street, on sidewalks, and this sort of thing.  Not all the time, mind you, but they would just drop their business right there in the middle of a busy sidewalk.  

- Trey Ratcliff

Read more here at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Walking Across the Old Bridge
While in China, one of the small towns I visited had several little low walking-bridges across the river.  It was the sort of river that was too shallow for boats, but good for fishing and washing clothes.  This one was in a residential and commercial area.  Many of the women wore colorful dresses and walked back and forth across... it all seemed very nice and peaceful so I grabbed an image.

- Trey Ratcliff

Read more here at the Stuck in Customs blog.

Approaching Mount Fuji from the Old Village


What a perfect place this is!

I’ve been to Japan many times, but I never had the chance to visit Mt. Fuji! This time, Tom and I made a point to do it, and this was one of our fist stops. You can see much more about it in the video above!

- Trey Ratcliff

Click here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
Click here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog." href="javascript:openLB(2486652760,'',XLarge,'',1024,724);">Approaching Mount Fuji from the Old Village What a perfect place this is!I’ve been to Japan many times, but I never had the chance to visit Mt. Fuji! This time, Tom and I made a point to do it, and this was one of our fist stops. You can see much more about it in the video above!- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

Approaching Mount Fuji from the Old Village


What a perfect place this is!

I’ve been to Japan many times, but I never had the chance to visit Mt. Fuji! This time, Tom and I made a point to do it, and this was one of our fist stops. You can see much more about it in the video above!

- Trey Ratcliff

Click here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.
See photo in original gallery.