The Liangma River runs through Beijing’s Chaoyang District. Once a relatively neglected urban waterway, the riverside has been transformed into one of the city’s most attractive modern recreational areas. It passes through Beijing’s embassy district and connects popular business and entertainment areas such as Sanlitun and SOLANA, while parks, tree-lined walkways and green spaces make the waterfront a pleasant place to explore.

From a photographer’s point of view, the Liangma River offers a wide variety of subjects. Street photography, portraits, everyday city life, modern architecture and reflections on the water can all be found within a relatively small area. The waterfront becomes particularly photogenic around sunset, when the changing light gradually transforms the atmosphere of the city.

The golden hour and especially the blue hour provide excellent opportunities to photograph the illuminated buildings and attractions along the river. As daylight fades, artificial lights begin to dominate the scene, creating colourful reflections on the water and a completely different character from what you see during the day.

I visited the area around this time, and the weather was also on my side. Dramatic clouds filled parts of the sky, adding extra colour and texture to the sunset and making the riverside scenery even more interesting to photograph. I stayed after sunset as the blue hour gradually gave way to night and the lights along the waterfront became more prominent.

I took most of the photographs in this gallery with my 24mm lens. I also used it for wider panoramic views by taking several overlapping photographs and combining them afterwards. A short telephoto lens can also be very useful here, especially for isolating architectural details, illuminated buildings or people farther away.

The strong city lights and decorative illumination along the waterfront provide enough light to continue photographing well after sunset. With a fast lens, it is possible to work handheld in many situations, although a tripod can still be useful for longer exposures, cleaner night images and reflections on the water.