The camera lenses of Velinand Maria Paskovsoffers us a glimpse to the future. Their latest photo exhibition, Winter China, shows winter in Beijing and the most northern and cold Chinese city of Harbin, located on both sides of the Songhua River. The city hosts the largest winter ice and snow sculpture festival in the world. More from Velin Paskov:

"The idea for the ‘Winter China’ photo exhibition was born in a conversation with the heads of Confucius Institute in VelikoTarnovo, Mrs. Iskra Mandova and Mr. Lun Tao. I told them that people do not know much about the winter image of China, and in 2022 Beijing will host the Winter Olympics. This will be the first city to organize both winter and summer Olympics. It is expected that in 2022 the winter Olympicswill be something unseen before. We decided to organize an exhibition showing the unknown face of China. I had never experienced a temperature of minus 38 degrees Celsius before. In Harbin we saw exceptional beauty and I hope that the audience, seeing these works during the exhibitions in Varna, VelikoTarnovo, Sofia, Rousse and Burgas, would experience the same feeling that I had."

"It is a great pleasure to see snow in the form of sculptures, bridges and in all kinds of other shapes. After we arrived at the hotel, we decided to go to one of the winter parks. After sunset, the magic was born – the space came alive with blue arcs, giant slides, ice houses illuminated in all the possible colors. "

"It turned out that there was another park where ice sculptures reached 35-40 meters high."

"You can also cross the Bridge of Sighs, which changes color from green to bright yellow, or stop in front of some of the most beautiful pagodas."

Velin Paskov’s name is linked to many projects dedicated to the Far East. He is producer of documentaries "I Love Thailand" and "Thailand - Land of Freedoms". He is the author of a photo exhibition "Wonderful Indonesia" and others. His first encounter with China took place more than 15 years ago and he was truly impressed. "At that time I realized that my life must be linked with this country. One sometimes makes conclusions that later fade away as time passes. But no matter how much time has passed, in my mind the image of China always shines brightly," VelinPaskov says. He contacted China Radio International which broadcast programs in more than 40 languages at the time, including Bulgarian. After a successful contest, he spent two years working in China as a correspondent. Getting to know the local culture, the journalist was amazed by the ability of Chinese people to concentrate their attention on one particular task and reach perfection. One of Velin's great dreams is to visitting Mongolia. His interest in this country was provoked by a documentary film by Julia Roberts: "Mongolia has been developing rapidly. Ulaanbaatar is a city in which one can see a lot, and with its deserts and steppes the country offers countless opportunities for adventure,"Velin Paskov says and adds:

"Another of my dreams is visiting India during Diwali - this is a festival that takes place in the autumn. They call it the ‘festival of light’, because then all of India is brightly lit. Whenever I visit a country, I try my visit to coincide with a holiday so I can feel its spirit. For example, I became a witness of a rare festival called the ‘Crystal Sons Festival’, held in northern Thailand, at the border with Myanmar. This holiday celebrates turning of boys into men. When they reach a certain age they must go to a monastery. Whether they will stay there for a few days or a year is a matter of personal choice. People dress in beautiful clothes in bright colors and put on characteristic make up. During the week of the festival youngsters do not step on the ground - their relatives carry them on their shoulders. All this ends with a unique ceremony that takes place in the local temple. The third thing I dream of is realizing a journey in the footsteps of Ernesto Guevara. I deliberately miss “Che”, because when he made his motorcycle trip across South America, he was an ordinary student of medicine with an interest in treating leprosy. He travelled from Argentina, through the Andes, through Chile, Peru, and visited several camps for treatment of leprosy along the Amazon River. This was not revolutionary Che Guevara yet, but a young man with big ideas, heavily impressed by the poverty of South America."

English: Alexander Markov