Calling All Visual Artists and Illustrators!

Do you know your way around a sketchpad? Have you been itching for an interesting artistic challenge? Well, we have a theme that we’d like you to bring to life: Time Travel in Beijing.

We’re planning to showcase the entries in an upcoming issue of the magazine and a subsequent art exhibition.

For example, you might decide to depict how present-day Sanlitun would appear to Peking Man (Sinanthropus pekinensis, not George Ding). Or maybe you could design a spaceship inspired by the classic siheyuan layout. Imagine a Ming dynasty official involved in space travel, a Qin dynasty warlord tearing up the dance floor at Vics, or your English-teacher friend using flashcards to drill Genghis Khan in verb conjugations. You could juxtapose the besieged diplomats of the Legation Quarter of 1900 with the posh diners of Maison Boulud. Or depict the Terminator traveling back to the Republican era to have tea with Lu Xun.

Will the CCTV Tower eventually be dwarfed by the gargantuan shade trees of our alien overlords? What will the sewage systems of the brave new world look like? Will jianbing carts evolve? Will Peking opera eventually be performed by androids? Will crickets become a bionic apex species, and start collecting puny humans to fight against each other? What will Quanjude serve 3000 years from now?

The sky’s the limit! Get out your pencils/crayons/markers/chalk/paintbrushes/pastels/stylus and start drawing! And don't forget to forward this to all your "sketchiest" friends.

File specifications: digital format (e.g. JPEG, TIFF, AI, PS files)
Image size: A4. At least 2480 x 3508 pixels, 300dpi
How to enter: Email your entry to thebeijingerphotos@gmail.com
Deadline: Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Copyright: the Beijinger reserves the copyright for our magazine and website use only.

We reserve the right to reject any content deemed offensive, objectionable, or in poor taste.

Photo: Filmophilia.com