Real life in Asia:
Public domain photographs
with comments by Insiders
Looking for public domain photographs of Asia? Look here. A tourist to China and/or Asia goes home with pictures of China and famous places in Asia that are interesting, but if you have the chance to stay for months or years you notice different sorts of things - the insider's view. The same is true for all of southeast Asia: a quick look is interesting but a deeper look is fascinating.
Popular Pages (Click on the image to get to the page):
 The Great Wall and other famous places in China |
 Chinese Babies |
 Genghis Khan (Mongolia) |
 Angkor Wat (Cambodia) |
To get to more photo pages quickly, click on any Asia picture this page, or on the main links at the top left or the bottom on this page. To read more about this website and its background, look below.
When I started living in China in 1991, I started my adventure of truly learning about Asia and its people. My collection of pictures of China and her culture gradually included much more about everyday life, friends, and out-of-the-way places that a tourist has no time for. You know what? Many years later I'm still finding new things to appreciate. I love it here... on most days anyway.
On this website, through our comments and pictures, my friends and I welcome you to see Asian people, culture, and scenes as we do: beautiful, frustrating, hilarious, charming, awful, and awesome. For your convenience in helping others come to know Asia, we're making all of our photos here public domain photographs, i.e. these are free public domain photos. If you use them, it would be nice to mention they came from www.asia-insider-photos.com but don't feel obligated.
Who are we? We are Canadians and Americans, plus the occasional Kiwi, Brit, etc., who teach English in Asia. Having been here for years, each of us now feels pretty much at home living in our host country, whether it's China, Mongolia, Vietnam, Laos, or Cambodia. Over the years our collections of pictures and stories of Asian life have grown and we want others to enjoy these views of our adopted countries. Have fun!
What sort of public domain photographs are here? In terms of countries, most of them will be China pictures but the site also has Mongolia pictures, Vietnam pictures, and Cambodia. I plan to have some from other Asian countries too. There are pictures of children, cultural and religious practices (e.g. Tibetan culture), and everyday life (markets, street life, countryside, and city) as well as funny photos, travel photos from our own vacations in southeast Asia, and more.
I keep adding to these collections of free public domain photos from me and other Asia Insiders. (Slowly, I admit, but I do!) If you don't see what you want, check back later or send a request via my "Contact us" page.
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These photographs of Asia were all taken by amateur photographers like me. In most cases they have decided to remain anonymous but if not, their names appear with their pictures. These pictures of China and elsewhere are public domain photographs but the text on this website is copyright with all rights reserved; that means you can use the photos as you wish but you can't copy what this website says about them.
I personally don't like the "click on the thumbnail to see the big size" idea because it ruins the flow of a sequence of photographs so the free public domain photos here are medium-resolution -- good enough to see most of the details and use in a document.
The insiders who contributed these public domain photographs of China and other Asian countries hope that you'll come to love and appreciate Asia as we do. Maybe you'll even end up here doing the sort of thing we do!
So... "Warmly welcome" to Asia!
(That's how most of my Chinese friends would say it.)
For another perspective, have a look at this Westerner's view of Sichuan. Sorry, access denied.
A billion people of China to watch
- Everyday life with the people of China. Pictures of some of the 1.3 billion faces to enjoy!
Famous places in China... and some not-so
- Famous places in China are interesting; some less-known places are fascinating.
Pictures of Chinese Things: Interesting and fun parts of Chinese Culture
- If you want to understand more about life in mainland China, have a look at these funny, charming, and sometimes bizarre Chinese things you might see anywhere over here, with comments by insiders.
Tibetan Pictures: Photos of Tibet and Tibetan People
- Tibetan pictures. Why are so many people worldwide fascinated by Tibet? Find out with help from these free public domain pictures of Tibet with comments from those who have lived there.
Modern life in Mongolia pictures
- Mongolia Pictures: Its people, animals, and scenery.
Vietnam Pictures showing Vietnam culture and some facts about Vietnam today
- Free Vietnam Pictures: These public domain photos of Vietnamese culture, places, and people show a country quite different from what you see in Vietnam war pictures.
- Angkor Wat Pictures: Structures, Art, and People. Even in ruins, this temple's buildings are amazing, ancient works of art on the walls are still beautiful, and the people in Angkor Wat are not just tourists.
- Funny stories of East-West culture clashes constantly amuse Westerners living in Asia. We laugh about the funny situations and strange things we encounter, but I'm sure we provide just as many funny stories for our Asian friends.
These photographs of Asia were all taken by amateur
photographers who have agreed to put them into the public
domain. That means you can use these photos as you wish -- school
projects,
photo displays, business purposes, whatever -- no strings attached (but
note: we have no model releases from those in the photos).
The text on this website is
copyright with all rights reserved, but these pictures are public
domain photographs.