China; people and culture

China is a vast country with an extraordinarily rich culture, rooted in a history of 5,000 years. Unfortunately, many historical buildings and artifacts were lost during wars in the 19th century. Mao’s Cultural Revolution also caused significant damage, as the communist rulers regarded art as something for the bourgeois elite that had to be destroyed. Fortunately, in a large country like China, not everything was lost. Well-known tourist highlights are, of course, the Great Wall, the Terracotta Army, and the Forbidden City. However, tourists literally overrun these highlights. Consequently, on my travels through China, I have visited many lesser-known and little-visited cultural landmarks.

China also has an enormous population of 1.3 billion people. The majority of the Chinese live in the densely populated east, where modern megacities such as Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Tianjin are located. About half of the population still lives in the poor and underdeveloped countryside. Modern amenities like TV and the internet have become commonplace here, but otherwise, life is still quite primitive. For a travel photographer, the underdeveloped countryside is, of course, always a rewarding subject.

Summarizing a large country like China in a few photos on a website? Impossible, of course, but with the 30 selected photos below, I still want to give you an impression of this fascinating country. You can find photos of nature in China here.