Professor David Bate participated in the Pingyao International Photography Festival, with an exhibition of his work SOT (Singapore-on-Thames), a docu-collage work about the ‘new developments’ in Battersea and Vauxhall area of London. He also curated an exhibition featuring work from University of Westminster photography graduates for the festival which featured some 40 exhibitions from across the world, including east and west Europe, USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Korea. He also did portfolio reviews for the Female Documentary Photography Foundation. 

Whilst in China he also presented the lecture The Anxieties of Virtual Photography at the festival in Pingyao, at the Communication University of Beijing and at the University of Zhejiang in Hangzhou.

The trip coincided with the new publication of the Chinese edition of his book Photography: Art Essentials, published by Thames & Hudson, 2021.