Through a Photographer's Lens: Capturing the Weifang International Kite Festival, Where Sea Creatures Float Alongside Noodle Packets in China's Skies
Photographer Janice Chan captures the world-class kite festival in Weifang through film photography, documenting both the majesty of giant kites and the crowds gazing up at the sky.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- The Weifang International Kite Festival is held annually in China and has grown into the largest kite festival in the world.
- Janice Chan, a Kiwi photographer and architect based in Hong Kong, created the photography series Most People Came to Watch the Sky.
- She used a Nikon F4 camera paired with Kodak Gold 200 film to capture giant animal and object kites measuring up to 300 meters long.
- This series reflects the atmosphere of the crowds, food stalls, and open spaces transformed into a temporary public room.
Every spring, wide-open fields in Weifang, China, are packed with thousands of people spending the afternoon looking up at the sky amid an atmosphere filled with uniquely shaped kites, such as tropical sea fish floating alongside Shin Ramyun noodle packets and gigantic kites reaching lengths of up to 300 meters. This grandeur was captured by Janice Chan, a photographer who connects these bizarre proportions with the crowds and vendors gathered across the fields.
Entitled Most People Came to Watch the Sky, the photography series follows the atmosphere surrounding the annual Weifang International Kite Festival. Janice Chan, a Kiwi architectural designer and photographer from Hong Kong, highlights the people waiting below just as much as the kites in the sky. The energy of this project stems from the shared interest of the crowd, turning an empty field into a temporary public space where thousands of people simultaneously gaze upward.
Kite history dates back to Micronesia and East Asia during the 5th to 4th centuries BC, initially used for rituals and fishing before expanding into military use and scientific experiments. The Weifang International Kite Festival was first held in 1984 and has scaled up to become the largest festival of its kind globally. Weifang's local craftsmanship blends traditional wisdom, such as paper- or silk-wrapped bamboo frames, with modern materials like nylon and complex structures today, enabling the creation of large three-dimensional kites that withstand wind and maintain stability in the air.
Janice Chan's architectural background directly influences her photographic perspective, as she often views spaces through the inhabitants and the activities happening around the periphery. In the case of Weifang, the sky is not merely an open area for kite performances, but is elevated into a canvas for design and public participation through collective upward gazes.
To capture this series, Janice Chan chose a Nikon F4 loaded with Kodak Gold 200 film to wait for the bright, vibrant spring sunlight. She chose to keep editing to a minimum and maintain colors close to their original brightness, letting the pale sky dominate most of each frame. She defines this time as a long afternoon outside with nowhere particular to be.
"a long afternoon outside with nowhere particular to be."
Janice Chan
Flying a kite relies on a precarious agreement between the hands holding the string and the wind moving above. The operator pulls and releases while the wind decides its own course. This partial control alone shapes the playful spirit of the festival. Even though the sky is wide open, every flight traces a temporary path across it, bringing both those who fly kites and those who stand and watch together to co-create a public space through shared attention.
Source: designboom
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