By David Gray

I met Steven O’Donnell at his house in the outer suburbs of Canberra just before dusk. He had agreed to take me on what can be described as one of Australia’s most unpopular and controversial activities – kangaroo shooting.

FULL FOCUS GALLERY: A NIGHT ON THE KANGAROO CULL

By day Steve is a professional plumber, but by night he is a government-licensed kangaroo shooter whose job is to annually cull the kangaroo population, which is estimated at over 50 million. When we met Steve was quick to explain why the thousands of Eastern Grey Kangaroos, known locally as “roos” in the Australian Capital Territory, had to be culled. Mobs of kangaroos can quickly damage the environment and compete with livestock for scarce food, impacting the livelihood of farmers.

But Steve’s main argument that stood out most in my mind was this: “After Europeans settled in Australia some 220 years ago, they chopped down millions of trees, and created much more grassland which the kangaroos have thrived on. As a result, their numbers have increased dramatically, and so in order to keep the natural balance for the environment to be sustainable (especially during a drought), their numbers have to be reduced. So actually, it’s our fault.”

I have heard many people say kangaroos are in “plague proportions”, but precise numbers vary dramatically depending on who you ask. According to government reports however, around 5 million kangaroos are culled or killed for commercial quotas each year, a small percentage of the estimated 50 million.

Discussing all these points as we drove into the night, we entered the paddock near Murrumbateman, located on the border of the Australian Capital Territory, on the outskirts of Canberra, where hundreds of roos are known to graze.  We needed to be ready, so he stopped the truck just inside the paddock gate and attached a large spotlight to a makeshift brace that he screwed onto the driver’s side door. This allowed Steve to drive and point the spotlight in search of grazing kangaroos in the dark. Safely resting in his lap was a .223 caliber rifle, its barrel pointing out the window, for fast and easy access.

It didn’t take long before we spotted a group of around a dozen roos. But there was just one problem, the kangaroos were on the passenger’s side (my side) of the truck. Steve climbed onto the back of the truck and used a sandbag to steady his rifle on the roof. Pointing the spotlight directly at the mob, the kangaroos all stood upright, dazzled by the light. My gaze was aimed directly at the kangaroo standing at the end of the beam of light. I felt a horrible, weird anticipation as I waited for the inevitable sound and result that would shortly follow. CRACK!! The distinctive, piercing sound of a rifle shot finally broke the silence. I heard a thud immediately after the shot, as the bullet entered the roo, and it slumped down, hitting the ground without a struggle. Steve repeated this process three times within the space of just one minute and all three were kill shots.

As the mob of kangaroos hopped away they found Steve’s spotlight irresistible and stopped out of curiosity — a fatal move. Steve hit all his targets precisely and quickly, proving to me that what he told me earlier was true. Every licensed kangaroo shooter goes through a rigorous set of tests to make sure they are not only crack shots, but that they know precisely what target they are hitting. They must also abide by very strict rules and conditions, with the number one rule being that a “headshot” must be obtained so as to minimize the animal’s pain and suffering. Of all the roos Steve shot that night, of which there were seven in total, he managed to make a “headshot” every time. An impressive example of marksmanship.

Once the kangaroos had scattered and were out of range, Steve tagged each dead roo. This meant walking across the dark paddock and fixing an official tag to their bodies that rangers would inspect later so that the quota of roos for that area was not exceeded. After 3 hours, Steve was satisfied with his night’s work. We drove out the gate and were soon back in suburbia.

I couldn’t help but feel a little saddened by what I had just witnessed, and reflected on what an unusual experience it had been. I have never liked guns, nor the thought of killing anything. But what kept ringing through my head as we drove through the quiet suburban streets at midnight was Steve’s argument – that all this was actually “our fault.”

Sadly perhaps, a necessary evil. But definitely, and always, controversial.

Starting last Wednesday, I have been riding my bike to the Japanese embassy in Beijing to cover protests against the Japanese government purchasing disputed islands in the East China Sea. These protests started off with just a few people – perhaps a few dozen – as ‘Beijingers’ are not used to being allowed to voice their opinions loudly (and most importantly, in large numbers) on the streets about anything.

SLIDESHOW: CLASHES OVER DISPUTED ISLANDS

The day it was announced that Japan had bought the islands, small groups of protesters were ushered into position by officials outside the main entrance to the embassy, and allowed to yell slogans and hold banners for around 10 minutes at a time. Some occasionally threw a water bottle or small stone over the gate, but they were quickly led away by plainclothes police with what can only be described as a ‘friendly’ warning.

So, we turned up on Saturday, thinking it would be yet another day of monotonous chanting and yelling. We carried our ladders, which had become necessary because the area that officials had deemed ‘adequate for press requirements’ was of course ridiculously small and we needed them to see over the top of each other. At first, a few groups arrived, but not in substantial numbers. But the word must have got out that protests were being ‘allowed’, and quite unexpectedly, thousands of people appeared and began pushing the outnumbered riot police guarding the embassy’s main entrance.

The crowd was kicking and pushing the metal barriers, climbing trees and power poles, and for a while it seemed they might just overpower the police. But as has been my experience in China, when crowds have the potential to overpower the police, reinforcements are not far away, and a few more hundred turned up carrying extra barriers to stop the surge.

This had now become by far the largest number of people I had ever seen involved in a protest since I arrived in Beijing more than five years ago.

Having overcome this initial onslaught, the police then convinced the crowd to fall back, and start their marches up and down the road again. This involved the crowd being separated into groups of around 30-40 people, and keeping them separated from each other. This gave the police the ability to control the huge numbers of people who had now turned up, numbering in their thousands, as small groups, and meant they would not be overwhelmed by the numbers once again.

And so, the marching and chanting began again, but this time, so did the hurling of water bottles. Over the day, there must have been thousands of plastic bottles hurled towards the embassy’s entrance, with many of course hitting, and some exploding on top of the police. To my surprise, they took these hits with extremely good humor, looking at each other and laughing. But this did not last long. Next came small plastic bags filled with dirt, followed by hundreds of eggs.

Many of the eggs landed near the media ‘pen’. When I was looking through my camera and standing atop my ladder, one bag hit me square in the head, exploding all over my face and shirt. Thankfully, the dirt narrowly missed landing on my laptop nearby, which was on and from which I was sending pictures to my boss Pedja Kujundzic. It was not funny at the time (well, maybe for some), but thinking back, I’m just grateful the bag wasn’t filled with something else – some we discovered were filled with old food and even rocks.

And so, it is more than a week since the first group of protesters came and voiced their opinions outside the embassy, and with things not looking like they will change, I prepare to head out again early tomorrow morning with my ladder and towel.

As I always do in China, I head out with the motto I have had in my head for the last 5 years – expect the unexpected.

I have been photographing Michael Phelps for over 8 years, which has included 3 Olympic Games and 3 World Swimming Championships and I have never seen him like this – a goldless man.

I even saw him in a race that for the first time did not result in a podium finish. And then the U.S. team only finished second in the 4X100M freestyle relay race, which included Phelps and his now great rival team mate, Ryan Lochte. I never thought this would be possible.

But the perceived rivalry between Phelps and Lochte is a very interesting story here at the London Olympic Games. Whenever I photographed the two of them together in the past, they would always be laughing, joking, and never, ever ignoring one another. Since the first training session here in London last Monday afternoon, I’ve noticed the lack of talk, smiles, laughter, and even recognition.

Lochte is no longer finishing second to ‘The King’, so I am left wondering if these results have affected their friendship. The simple fact is, I will never know, but I am hoping they can recover from their competitive thoughts and acknowledge each others amazing abilities. I recently saw the movie ‘Senna’ about the rivalry between the Formula One drivers Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, and how they went from friends, to enemies, and back to being very close friends. I am hoping perhaps these two great rivals will have a similar story.

Phelps was the highlight for me at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where he won 8 gold medals to become the most successful Olympian in history.

His performance was incredible, and the pictures I took of him are my most memorable from covering a summer Olympic Games. So, to see him performing as he has at the London games has been a bit sad and to me an example of how age catches up with everyone. None of us can be as fast as we once were, even the great Phelps. Even still, I believe he will win a gold medal, in his favorite event, the 200 meter butterfly.

We will have to wait and see, on Thursday night.

China never, ever fails to amaze. What better way to preserve a former Communist Party military leader’s cave headquarters, then to make it into a bar? Not just any bar, but a ‘Military Bar’, decorated with furniture made from old ordnance. What better way to use old artillery shells and land mines than to turn them into bar stools? Brilliant. It does make you ponder the question – now why didn’t I think of that?

SLIDESHOW: COMMUNIST BUNKER BAR

Deep in the mountains west of Beijing, and extremely difficult to find, lies a cave where the former Communist military Marshal Lin Biao made his headquarters during certain military ‘disagreements’ with Russia in 1968. However, from this cave it is alleged he was also plotting the assassination of Chairman Mao Zedong. He died in 1971 when his plane mysteriously crashed in Mongolia, and shortly thereafter, he was officially condemned as a traitor by the Communist Party.

This intriguing history is the reason for the entrance of the cave being shaped in the form of an airplane (definitely a strange site at the foot of a mountain). A very realistic cockpit greets visitors just inside the door.

Guests are then presented with all sorts of Communist propaganda lining the roof and walls of the cave as they walk down towards the larger chasm, where the really interesting scene awaits them. At first, the bar looks fairly normal but when you look up and notice that the light fittings are actually made from old bombs, you start to look more intently at what exactly is around you.

The bar stools are made using old artillery shells for the stands, and land mines for the seats. For seating around tables, you can sit yourself down on an old ammunition box. The tables have a glass top displaying model battle scenes.

Dividing each table are piles of sandbags. Lying in the corners of the cave as ornaments are old ordnance, including tank mines, land mines, gas masks, grenades, parachutes, helmets, bullets, guns, an army jeep and my personal favorite, a rocket launcher. You can, of course, play with all this military hardware while you are sipping on your icy cold beer, perhaps chatting with your ‘comrades’ about your next maneuver in your battle plans. Let’s face it, its a tough world out there in business these days.

So whether you are a weapons fanatic or a peace-loving citizen, it makes for a unique and interesting night out, even if it is way out (if you know what I mean).

Blind Chinese lawyer Chen Guangcheng grabbed the world’s attention in April when he refused to leave the U.S. embassy in Beijing after escaping from his village where he was under home detention. The end result was that he and his wife were put on a plane to New York. Over the next few weeks, the Chen family that still lived in the family home were subjected to beatings and house raids by local plainclothes security personnel. During one of these raids, Chen’s nephew tried to stop the invaders, and as a result is in detention for attempted murder – a crime that carries the death penalty in China.

Just three weeks ago I photographed Guangcheng’s elder brother, Chen Guangfu, who had managed to slip out of the same village as his brother in an attempt to obtain a good lawyer for his son’s case. As I was photographing Guangfu he recounted the beating he had suffered as retaliation for his brother’s escape. He said he no longer has any feeling in his left hand. When the interview finished I thought I would probably never see this brave man again but when we received word it might be possible to visit his village, we headed straight there.

Myself, Royston Chan of Reuters Television, and text correspondent Sui-Lee Wee, boarded planes and flew to Shinyi in Shandong Province, some 600 kilometers (372 miles) southwest of Beijing. A driver was waiting for us when we landed; a good contact as a result of Royston’s previous attempts to visit the village. We drove the 70 kilometers (43 miles) or so to Dongshigu village. As we approached the turn-off, we had our cameras ready and drove past to determine what we would do next.

“Did you see anyone?” all three of us said at once. We had not, so we turned around and slowly made our way down the road. Just short of the village, we saw some farmers harvesting their wheat crops. We pulled over and asked them where the Chen family home was located. “Wo bu zhi dao” (“I do not know”) they barked back at us, seemingly very agitated that anyone would even ask them. We moved on slowly through the village and every time the same answer came back to us. Of course, something was very wrong if a village that has a population of just 500 did not know where the house of a blind lawyer who had been arrested, put in jail, released, held under house arrest, beaten, escaped on foot, caused a massive diplomatic scandal upon entering the U.S. embassy in Beijing, and who was now living in New York was.

So, we walked the small alleyways that made up the village, and finally got a hold of Chen’s brother Guangfu on the phone. By this stage, we were really worried about who we would encounter around the next corner. Previous visits by journalists trying to enter the village had resulted in them being physically removed and being driven directly to the closest airport. Some had even had their equipment damaged beyond repair. Guangfu arrived on a bike, smiling and very happy to see us. We walked with him to the family home, just five minutes away, and discovered of course that it was at the exact spot where we had first asked someone after entering the village. Guangfu said he was certain that all the villagers had been told not to talk to any foreigners, because normally they would all be out of their homes watching them.

We entered the gate to the Chen family home and met Wang Jinxiang, the mother of Guangfu and Guangcheng. This sweet lady greeted us with open arms and we quickly started the interview. It didn’t take long for her to begin crying as she recounted the many sleepless nights over the past years.

She said the guards would deliberately keep them awake by banging on a metal sheet sporadically throughout the night. Next we visited Guangcheng’s room just a few meters away. It had been ransacked by the guards after his escape, and his mother had cleaned it up the best she could. As I walked around, I noticed an old photograph sitting in a drawer, of him at a blind institute in Texas some years previously. What grabbed me about the photograph was the beaming smile on his face, and how out of place it seemed in this small and damaged room.

We nervously got as many shots as we could of the home, thinking we might not ever be able to come back. As we were about to leave, Guangfu pointed to a row of rocky steps that led up to the roof of a shed. He said these steps were the ones his blind brother had managed to climb, by himself, and jump over numerous walls to escape. This was truly remarkable, as some of the walls were over 6 feet-high.

By this time we had not been approached by any officials, either inside the house or in the surrounding alleys. Finally, a goofy-looking man dressed exactly like an official would be (with long dress pants and a collared shirt, in the middle of a farming village) approached us and asked where we were from. We told him we were from Beijing and we were doing interviews – would he care to comment? There was “No need” he replied, “As you can see, all is fine here.”

We said our goodbyes and as soon as we left we were followed by some men in a van. We flagged down a passing taxi, which was a truly miraculous event (I can’t even get a taxi to stop for me in the middle of Beijing) and jumped in. “To the airport as quick as you can, driver,” and with this, he drove at such high speed that either the van lost us or they just gave up.

We sent our pictures, video and story from the terminal building as we waited for our flight. Covering stories like this always involves being alert and aware of who is watching. You need to make sure that when the time comes to leave, you can leave quickly. It’s just another day at the office in China.

(This story was corrected on June 14 to correct the name of Chen Guangcheng’s brother to Guangfu)

The alarm woke me at 6am so that I could catch the sun as it rose slowly above the buildings to the east. But this was no ordinary sunrise. This was the morning when the sun had a black dot slowly moving across it, and that black dot was the planet Venus.

SLIDESHOW: VENUS JOURNEYS ACROSS THE SUN

Photographing the ‘Transit of Venus’ as it is known, was something that I was not at all familiar with. For a start, the total time would be around 6 hours. This was extremely slow in comparison to the eclipses I had previously photographed, with ‘totality’ (when the moon completely covers the sun) lasting on each occasion just 11 and 90 seconds. These celestial events, of course, involved the sun and the moon, but this one amazingly would involve a planet. The difficulty of this was that the sun would remain at its normal brightness the entire time.

So, I figured this could be dealt with in two ways. As the transit began in Beijing at sunrise, it would be possible to photograph it just as it appeared above the horizon due mainly, believe it or not, to the pollution that blankets Beijing on any normal day. This would reduce the brightness of the sun enough to allow direct viewing and thus making a photograph possible without the need for any filters. So I awoke at 6am, walked onto my balcony, and to my surprise, could not even see the sun. The haze was so thick in the morning, that the sun was totally obscured. So I waited. 6.30am came and still nothing. 7am rolled on with the sky completely lit up but still with no sun visible. Then at 7.30am, I could just make out a small circle of red peeking through the grey. I grabbed my 400mm lens, added a 1.4x converter, and took some frames. At first I didn’t see anything, but when I magnified the image on the back of my camera, there it was, a black dot that was very obviously not the same as the 3 sun spots also visible.

This was all well and good, but I had to show that it was moving, and that it wasn’t just a stationary object. However this meant that when I needed to next photograph the sun, it would be extremely bright, thus requiring some sort of filter. Previously when photographing eclipses, I had obtained special foil that I used to cover the front of my lens which enabled a picture to be taken. But sadly, since my last eclipse more than three years ago, I could not find it. So, I remembered an old trick that I had seen someone doing in the Australian outback a decade ago – looking through a medical x-ray sheet. I remembered that when I moved to China nearly five years ago, I had to have a lung x-ray to pass the medical examination. So I looked through my desk, and found them still sealed after the doctor had examined them all those years ago. About an hour or so after my previous picture, I placed the x-ray over the front of my lens, moving it around slightly until the sun was just a bright circle, I took a few frames with varying exposures. I put the images into my laptop and to my delight, they once again showed Venus, and slightly further along the suns’ face.

Knowing that this worked, I was hoping to take a picture every hour until it was over. But to my dismay and disappointment, clouds rolled in shortly after my previous picture, and it was not possible to see the transit anymore.

In the end, I was pleased that I had not only managed to get a picture of this extremely rare event, but the fact that I could say I had seen it was very satisfying, especially considering it would not occur again until 2117 – another 105 years. So, doubtful we will make it for THAT viewing.

The Safedom condom company’s factory is located in the town of Zhaoyuan, located 100 kilometers south of the city of Yantai, Shandong Province, China. Safedom turned its back on the low-margin, guaranteed-business sales to the Chinese government’s family planning program 11 months ago, and decided to shift to where the money is: the higher end of the general public market. Claiming to be the fourth-largest condom maker in China by revenue, after three foreign brands, they are hoping to sell one billion condoms this year with the launch of its “Take Me” condom, aimed at women consumers, and partnerships with French, Italian, German and UK condom makers.

I was led into a rather unassuming building and greeted by the company’s executives. Here they told me during a brief introduction, that I was to ‘behave’ when touring the production floor, and not disclose any company ‘secrets’. This made me chuckle, though I certainly didn’t show it, as I thought this was how you may talk to a child – the very thing their product was aiming to prevent.

We were then given the appropriate disinfected clothing for ‘protection’, including mesh to cover the ‘rubber’ on the soles of my shoes. Then we were put into a room which blew strong air over us to remove any unwanted dust. From here, I was led into the first area of the production line, which involved a belt containing thousands of phallic-shaped metal rods with condoms placed over them traveling at a hefty pace around the factory floor. Now when you first see the size of these rods, you have to ask the obvious question – Who are they making these condoms for? Dirk Diggler? However, it was explained to me that the rods help stretch the condom to see if they will break.

Moving along the belt, we came across a group of women actually flicking the condoms over and onto the rods. Now the speed at which these women could do this was simply frightening. You could not see it with the ‘naked’ eye. The first few attempts I tried at capturing this was with a shutter speed of 1/250th. Nowhere near fast enough. Let’s try 1/800th. Nope. Surely 1/1250th. Wrong. Now I was getting in trouble. It’s dark, and my ISO (I so want to use ASA but that would be showing my age) is already at 4000, and any higher the images will start to be to ‘noisy’ (this is not a pun, just a way of saying how the higher the ISO speed, the more blue pixels become evident in the shadows). So, I had to accept some movement on the condoms.

The next place was really hilarious, the testing room. Every 20 seconds or so, a condom is taken from the production belt, put inside a small glass container, and blown up. They reach about one meter in height before exploding with a great ‘bang’. Next to this, was a testing apparatus using liquids, aimed at seeing how much the condoms would stretch when filled. Again, they exploded after what seemed like a massive amount was emptied into them.

From here, we moved into an area where hundreds of condoms were placed into what looked like washing machines. This was the disinfecting stage of production, and every 30 minutes or so, a man would empty the machines and sift through the contents like he was going though a load of washing. Amusing.

Next came the packaging area, with about 10 ladies placing individually every single condom onto a small belt. Imagine this if you will – Safedom sold around 200 million condoms last year, with the intention of selling around one billion this year, and these ladies have to touch every single one. WOW!!

When it was finally time to say thank you and goodbye, I was offered a bag containing what must have been hundreds of condoms. Of course, I told them I could not accept such a gift for two reasons. Firstly, it was against my ethics to accept any free products when ‘on the job’, and secondly, I never mix business with pleasure.

Xin nian kuai le!! To get around China, it helps to have a basic knowledge at least of the Chinese language. No question. And these four words will help you greatly at this time of year. What does it mean? I hear those not so knowledgeable about Chinese customs ask. Well, it’s Chinese new year. And wishing someone a Happy New Year will aid you in many ways. But saying it this year is an even bigger bonus, because this year is not just any year – it’s the year of the dragon. What exactly does this mean to Chinese? Well, for one, apparently, it’s the year to have a baby. I have heard this only whispered by my Chinese colleagues over the past few months. Why? Well, apparently, a dragon year is a seriously good year to be born. The Chinese horoscope says that Chinese Dragons (you could call them Dragon babies I suppose) lead a complicated life, but have beneath their stubborn exterior, a soft heart, and are born leaders. Good attributes you would have to say, especially when you consider other animals included on the list are a pig (full disclosure, that’s my year so I am not being nasty when saying this), a rat, an ox, monkey, snake and even a sheep. So, even though its the only fictitious animal on that list, you would have to say, a dragon is pretty cool. I mean, it breathes fire…..cmon, that’s cool!!

So, back to my big tip, especially useful upon your arrival in say Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, or even Chengdu, when you jump in that taxi after enduring more than an hour of being jostled by boisterous fellow travelers, lean over to the driver and yell with zealous – Xin nian kuai le – and he will return your friendly gesture with a speedy ride to your place of abode. It will make your trip all the more pleasant and hopefully one to remember, in the Year of the Dragon.

When I was told about this assignment late last Friday in Beijing, the brief was simple – a group of young female Chinese college graduates training to be bodyguards; sounded interesting. Little did I know how interesting it would actually be.

Myself and a Reuters television crew were met in a shopping mall car park by two obviously former military-trained men wearing army fatigues and dark sunglasses. This for starters was an unusual scene in China; a foreigner being driven by what looked like army personnel as shoppers did ‘double-takes’ as we drove away. Thinking we would be driving to a distant, secret location I settled in for the long ride. Five minutes later, we pulled into a driveway. In front of us were soccer fields, complete with mini-goalposts. What were we doing here?

Sitting at the side of one of the small fields was a group of women eating lunch. As we got closer, I could see they weren’t your usual group of young Chinese girls. Looking like catwalk models but dressed in army fatigues, one of our two male escorts barked an order at them. They quickly finished their food and stood up in formation. From a small hut out walked the head instructor. He was short, but noticeably fit and strong. Almost instantly, he had the girls running laps around the soccer field, yelling at them constantly with words of encouragement, but mostly abuse. After a few laps, the girls formed a line again, and one girl was asked why she wasn’t wearing any gloves. I couldn’t make out what her reply was but the next moment she was on the ground doing push-ups. This was going to be an interesting afternoon.

The girls were then ordered to do some short sprint exercises, while carrying a colleague on their back. This was the first indication to me that these girls were indeed just that – girls. Losing their balance, they started to fall over each other, and the next thing they were shrieking with laughter. I thought the instructor was going to go crazy but even this hard-nosed, former Special Forces soldier could only smile and giggle along with them. But within seconds, he was yelling again for them to get up, and grab boxing gloves and pads, and start punching and kicking.

The instructor observed the girls but was not satisfied. He started showing one of the girls how to hit a pad, being held by another girl, using his shoulder to give extra force. He then unexpectedly punched the bag to demonstrate this, and the girl holding it keeled over in pain.

In all fairness, it was one strong blow from someone who knows how to hit, and she just wasn’t ready. To her absolute credit, she recovered, retook her position, and waited for the instructor to continue. Next thing, he started to demonstrate how to kick the pad, and again, he didn’t hold back. OOOOOOOOOOOOOFFF!! I could feel the air go out of the poor girl’s lungs from 10 yards away. Down she went, but this time, she was not getting up. She was helped by a fellow trainee to a seat, and didn’t return to the class. Now, it was really getting serious.

Next the girls were handed rubber knives, and the instructor demonstrated with a male colleague how to disarm and throw an opponent to the ground. Some of the girls were very good, but most started giggling as they tried unsuccessfully to push their opponent to the ground. I saw that this made the instructor slightly irritated and was worried what he might do next. He then brought out rubber guns, and demonstrated how to grab the gun quickly and by twisting the opponents wrist, wrench it from their hand. Again, his strength was obvious, and the wrists of the girls were certainly tested. This ended the self-defense lessons, and what happened next, can only be described as totally bizarre.

The two assistant instructors unpacked a box of what looked like bottles and laid them on the ground. I was trying to figure out what exercise could possibly involve bottles being placed along the ground, when I was told they were for breaking over the recruits heads. What? You are joking of course?…. It seemed not.

The girls were ordered to stand in a line, and stand with their legs in a brace position – one leg forward and the other slightly back. The instructor was handed a bottle one-by-one and proceeded up the line cracking each bottle atop of the girls’ heads. Each time, the girls would give a small cry of protest before each blow, but no mercy was given. CRACK!!! What a noise. Cries of astonishment are the only way I can describe what the girls were screaming as the bottles came down upon their heads. But again, to their credit, they held the line and took this strange form of training in their stride. From a photographer’s point-of-view, this was amazing of course.

The only explanation I can give for doing this, was to prove to the girls that they could withstand a blow to the head, and how it might feel. Fair enough – makes sense. Tough test done. Oh no. Not yet. Next were the wooden sticks across the thighs. Again, the women were told to take the brace position, and one-by-one the instructor came along the line and brought down a one yard long stick across their leg, which would in theory break if their muscles were tightened enough. Soft sticks you might say. Well, when the instructor got to the fifth girl in the line, down the stick came, but this time unlike the previous four sticks, it didn’t snap.

CRUNCH!!! The girl went down, but as it was so unexpected, she started to laugh. The tension of the class before this moment had been at such a high level, that everyone broke out in roars of laughter, even the sadistic chief instructor who just seconds before had been deadpan serious. It was a wonderful ‘breaking of the ice’ so to speak, and a fitting finale to this strange and unusual security training lesson.

(View a slideshow of images here)

Along the road to one of China’s most famous tourist landmarks – the Great Wall of China – sits what could potentially have been another such tourist destination, but now stands as an example of modern-day China and the problems facing it.

Situated on an area of around 100 acres, and 45 minutes drive from the center of Beijing, are the ruins of ‘Wonderland’. Construction stopped more than a decade ago, with developers promoting it as ‘the largest amusement park in Asia’. Funds were withdrawn due to disagreements over property prices with the local government and farmers. So what is left are the skeletal remains of a palace, a castle, and the steel beams of what could have been an indoor playground in the middle of a corn field.

Pulling off the expressway and into the car park, I expected to be stopped by the usual confrontational security guards. But there was absolutely no one to be seen. I walked through one of the few entrances not boarded up, and instantly started coughing. In front of me were large empty rooms and discarded furniture, all covered in a thick layer of dust, along with an eerie silence that gave the place a haunted feeling – an emotion not normally associated with a children’s playground.

Once outside again, I came across some farmers who originally owned the land and are now using it to once again to grow their crops. Their tracks and plantations can be seen running through and surrounding the uncompleted buildings. Walking further, I came across a rather farcical sight of some farmers digging a well next to a castle; a moment I will always savor as a photographer in a place like China where castles are not in huge supply. I explained this to the farmers and they just shrugged their shoulders, oblivious to a photographer’s happiness. I asked them what happened, and they simply answered the developers ran out of money, and they are getting back to doing what they do best. They are even slowly starting to plant trees and build shelters near the buildings, adding they think it is now safe to think the developers are never coming back. This I can believe, as the absence of any security (something very rare in China) leads one to think that even the developers have given up on what is already there.

All these structures of rusting steel and decaying cement, are another sad example of property development in China involving wasted money, wasted resources and the uprooting of farmers and their families. It is a reflection of the country’s property market which many analysts say the government must keep tightening steps in place. The worry is a massive increase in inflation and a speculative bubble that might burst, considering that property sales contribute to around 10 percent of China’s growth.