94 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2026 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL In a village square on the outskirts of Datong, in China’s Shanxi province, my family and I stumbled on a group of local women performing a traditional fan dance to celebrate Lunar New Year. Four men pounded on an enormous drum and two played cymbals while the dancers’ “coach” blew a whistle and barked choreography orders. There was no audience but us, the foreigners who showed up by happenstance. The afternoon was freezing, but the ladies beamed. n Julia Wohlers is a first-tour Foreign Service officer currently serving in Beijing with her husband and two sons. This photo was taken in February 2025 with a Samsung Galaxy S20+ and post-processed in Adobe Lightroom. Please submit your favorite, recent photograph to be considered for Local Lens. Images must be high resolution (at least 300 dpi at 8” x 10”, or 1 MB or larger) and must not be in print elsewhere. Include a short description of the scene/event as well as your name, brief biodata, and the type of camera used. Send to locallens@afsa.org. BY JULIA WOHLERS n DATONG, CHINA LOCAL LENS
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