There are many ways to get to know a city. The best way is to experience it in person – travel across it, live there for a while, talk to people and make friends. If possible, learn the language, or even learn the local

cuisine by cooking your own dishes. As many in the expatriate community will tell you, there is nothing that beats the real thing. Even the little frustrations will add to the richness of your Beijing experience. The capital is vast and constantly evolving. There is not a single book or film that can capture its diversity.

That said, for those who do not have the luxury of a close encounter, a vicarious experience is the next best thing. Viewing Beijing through a third person has its advantages: The images are heightened and tend to distill the essence for you. You can save the trouble of browsing through the clutter of irrelevancy and cut to the chase, so to speak.

An image of Beijing naturally condenses; yet it also expands by suggesting things not inside the frame. The same goes for the proscenium of a theater or the screen of a cinema. A film or stage show about Beijing usually presents some aspect of the city and its people, maybe about its past but with modern-day repercussions. It may be symbolic of something more widespread, yet one should caution against reading too much into it.

Likewise, the frame of a photograph is by no means the boundary for the viewer’s mind’s eye. It has a natural vista toward the unseen. In a sense, it resembles a traditional Chinese brush painting where much is left blank, to be filled with the imagination of the viewer. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but in the case of China this is hardly enough to describe its multiple facets.

You have to make the photo you see a part of a bigger picture. Yet, it is a worthy attempt and people should never stop. As a traveler derives joy from sharing his or her discoveries, both locals and outsiders can gain from their knowledge or curiosity about Beijing, which is in a constant state of being rediscovered. Let these images be the signposts of the departure gate. You are embarking on a voyage that will be richer than that which could be captured by other people’s photographs. The end of your journey will be marked by an assemblage of images that went through your own lens and represent what you saw and experienced. That will be the city you discover. All the pictures will show at Barbican Center on July 26 and 27.