HPA13-14 Reception Day
| Published date: 2014-06-21 |
In the morning of June 20, we set up two tables at the lounge of Hot Spring Hotel of Beijing Chateau Lafitte Hotel. All of us are ready to receive photographers and guests with full spirit. Our tables are piled up with admission cards, certificates and HPA13-14 Guideline.
In fact, some photographers have arrived several days earlier and have been touring around Beijing. Some have made their traveling plan at home. Ms. Sehida Miftari tried to book a Beijing one-day tour with a travel agency online at home, but the agency could not provide hotel-pickup service since Beijing Chateau Lafitte Hotel is in suburb. She changed her strategy and discussed with other photographers arriving at the hotel on June 19. Instantly, she set up a tour group and settled the one-day with three other photographers sharing the same interest. On the early morning of June 20, four of them left the hotel at 6:00 and started their adventure. One of them came from Iran. HPA work team received two emails from his wife asking about his safe arrival, “Are you there safely?”
Some old friends of HPA from Burma and Lithuania are also coming. They were winners in the last HPAs from 1998 to 2011. We had a warm talk with hands, smiles and gestures because both parties can’t speak English well. Through our translator, a photographer from Spain told us, it took him one and a half day to get from Hong Kong to Beijing by train to attend the 2nd HPA award ceremony on 2000. Ms. Rozenn Leboucher, HPA winner in the 6th and the 7thHPA, is a member of HPA Jury for this year. She gave Mr. Shen Che, Chairman of HPA Jury, a bear hug.
It is deep night and most HPA winners have arrived and are preparing for the Award Ceremony tomorrow and the Forum the day after tomorrow.
