Wuhan, in the Peoples Republic of China, has hit the news again, with this week’s release of the CIA report on the lab leak. But for me, Wuhan brings a very different set of memories to mind, and a reminder of a very important lesson learned.
THE ADVENTURE BEGINS
In 2014, thanks to the efforts of golf course architect, Rick Robbins, I was hired to photograph two golf clubs in The People’s Republic of China… one in Beijing and one in Wuhan. This was my first opportunity to ply my trade internationally, and I was genuinely excited. Rick is essentially retired now, but in 2009, he was actively designing golf courses in China. He had seen my photos of Canyon Ridge, a golf course he designed in northwest Georgia and contacted me. He suggested that he might have some Chinese clients interested in hiring me. I was all in, but for five years nothing came of it. Rick and I stayed in touch, though, and he remained optimistic that he would get me to China at some point. Then one day in the Fall of 2014, he called. “Dave, I have an owner who wants you to come to Beijing to photograph his new golf course. How soon can you get here?”
Two weeks later, I landed in Beijing on a dark and very smoggy night. Since he had first called, Rick had lined up another project for me… Yishan Golf Club in Wuhan, Hubei Province, PRC, so after completing the first project, I was off to Wuhan. I had never been to Asia, so a few hours on the High Speed Rail, filled with people who knew no English, seeing countryside unlike anything I had seen before, I was feeling very adventurous! The High Speed Rail was amazing fun. Smooth as glass, and fast! Arriving at the station in Wuhan, I was a bit intimidated, though. The station was enormous and filled with people arriving and departing. I was the only tall, white person among the thousands of Chinese, and there were no directional signs in English. By following the flow of passengers disembarking from my train, though, I stumbled onto my pickup point, where I was met by a young woman from Yishan Golf Club.
The clubhouse at Yishan Golf Club is ultra modern and beautifully designed, with marble floors, fine wood accents and sunlight streaming thru floor to ceiling windows. And the food? Lordy, is it good! Arthur, the club’s Deputy General Manager, told me that Wuhan and Hubei Province are very proud of their unique food. To demonstrate, he had his chef prepare me a dry noodle dish that wasn’t on the menu and it was the best Chinese food I’ve ever had. Obviously, eating Chinese food in China is different from stopping by Lucky Wok, down the street, and I had a lot of excellent food in China. But the food at Yishan Golf Club was better than great. It was wonderful.
The hotel, a short stroll from the clubhouse, is equally impressive. I was given one of five suites on the second floor, above the driving range. The suite was very large, ultra luxurious and featured 3 hitting bays on its spacious balcony. Oddly, I was the only person staying in the hotel. It seems that in China, everyone works. They build with no apparent demand for what they’re building, to keep folks working. The hope is, I suppose, that demand will develop. Thus… I stayed in an empty, first class hotel, and had it all to myself!
Three people at Yishan Golf Club spoke English… Deputy General Manager, Shu Yang (Arthur), who spoke perfect English; Ti Jien, a college student studying English, who acted as my assistant during the photo shoot; and Zhong Hua, a charming college-aged girl who worked the front desk in the hotel. Her English was limited, so we used the Mandarin to English translator on her computer to converse. Mandarin-to-English and English-to-Mandarin translations are troublesome because the two languages are structured so differently. It’s really more interpretation than translation. Consequently, Hua and I spent a lot of time laughing as we attempted to talk with each other.
Hua and I became friends and stayed in touch for several years, but since Covid, I haven’t heard from her. I know that when Covid appeared she was living with her husband, her baby and her husband’s parents. As the government began to clamp down on its citizens, I heard from her that they were safe and healthy, but I haven’t heard anything since. I sincerely hope and trust that she’s well and happy.
The photo shoot at Yishan went well. The weather was mostly good, and Ti Jien, mentioned above, was an excellent assistant. Jien drove my golf cart and manhandled a 10 foot ladder for me. With his easy smile and willingness to help, Ti Jien was good company. On the morning of my first photo shoot, I was on the 18th fairway, photographing the clubhouse with beautiful blue hour color filling the sky. When I needed to get to the other side of the stream that flowed from the small lake in front of the clubhouse, the only quick option was to hop across the lake’s stone dam where water fell into the stream below. Ti Jien, with athletic ease, hopped down and carried my camera and tripod across the dam. I slung my camera pack over my shoulder. In it, I had a second camera, a couple of additional lenses, plus filters, batteries, cables and other assorted accessories. Sadly, “athletic ease” is not something with which I am familiar, so as I hopped onto the dam, my feet slipped in the green slime and I fell sideways to my right, full-body-slam, into the stream below.
Instantly, I found my inner cat and leapt up in the waist deep stream. I waded to the far side and nervously unzipped my camera pack. The pack was sold as “water resistant”, but what does that mean? Thankfully, the only thing that had gotten wet was me. And I was 100% soaked. Very upset at what he thought was his fault, Ti Jien asked if I wanted to go to my room to change. “Are you kidding?!” I almost shouted. “Do you see that sky!?” And we carried on for the remainder of my morning session.
When I returned to the hotel, I was very wet, pretty muddy and looking genuinely bedraggled. Waiting for the elevator I noticed a couple of young people across the room at the driving range’s counter. I looked at them. They looked at me. And all three of us burst out laughing. That memory always makes me laugh!
NO BATS IN WUHAN
A quick note… In Wuhan, I saw no bats! Hong Kong Golf Club, which I photographed in 2017, was swarming with bats and mosquitoes every morning when I was out to shoot the dawn. But in Wuhan, no bats!
THE LESSON
On the final day of my visit, the club was having their monthly staff golf outing and I was invited to join them. The monthly outing is a special day for everyone, and though I would have preferred to be on the course with my cameras, I couldn’t refuse the invitation. It was the most beautiful day of my visit. And I spent it feeling miserable, wishing I had cameras and not golf clubs in my hands. And to make things worse, as we finished on the 18th hole, I was staring in the face of a stunning sunset. I was sick. That day I promised myself I would never play golf on a course I’m photographing. It was a valuable lesson, and it’s a promise I’ve never broken.