1. Kelpies, Australia
Nominations close this month for the Cobber Challenge, an annual competition to find Australia’s hardest working dog. The chosen dogs will be fitted with GPS collars to track the distance they travel and their average speed as they patrol the paddocks and stations of rural Oz over the three-week competition. The inaugural winner in 2016 was a Victorian kelpie called Larry, who covered more than 500 kilometres. It’s a brave punter who’d bet against this redoubtable and quintessentially Australian breed this year.
2. Nomads, Mongolia
For hundreds of thousands of people in Mongolia, life today is much the same as it has been for the past 5,000 years. You can see their culture up close at this month’s Nomads’ Day Festival, held in Gun-Galuut Nature Reserve, 130 kilometres east of Ulaanbaatar (to which you can now fly codeshare with MIAT Mongolian Airlines). Watch traditional pursuits such as horseback riding and musical performances (ever wanted to try your hand at throat singing?), learn how to pack a ger and brew the perfect Mongolian milk tea.
17-18 September, mongolia.travel
3. Lou Reed
It was 1972, a magical time for rock music in the West: the Glam movement was taking off, Bowie invented Ziggy Stardust and T. Rex released Telegram Sam. Capturing it all on celluloid was British photographer Mick Rock. One of his photographs of Lou Reed live in concert became the cover of Reed’s 1972 album, Transformer (which made the ex-Velvet Underground frontman a household name). This month, 45 years after the album’s release, Rock’s candid images, some iconic and some never-before-seen, are published in a limited edition photobook, showing Reed during his transformative peak.
4. Photofairs, Shanghai
Misty mountains or modern metropolis? Chinese artist Yang Yongliang creates his mesmerising hybrids (this one above is called Endless Streams) by merging composite photos of cities in the style of traditional Chinese landscape paintings. His works are joined by other photographers’ at the fourth Photofairs Shanghai, held over 8-10 September at the Shanghai Exhibition Centre.
There are 30 VIP preview tickets (8 September), which include a private bilingual tour, available to Marco Polo Club members. For details, visit cathaypacific.com
