China's story, captured through a camera lens

Spring Festival in 1993 was the start of longer, more adventurous travel, for example taking an overnight boat from Guangzhou to Hainan. It was also a time to start learning more of the history, particularly of the Maritime Silk Road that has left a legacy in "Sino-Portuguese" architecture along the southern coasts of Guangdong and Guangxi. It was walking through such an area in Haikou I came upon a scene that felt almost like an historic flashback. There, at an old harbor on the Nandu River, a wooden sailing vessel was being loaded with porcelain pots of pickled vegetables. Throughout history such vessels would have been along the coast, powered by the wind in their sails.

Later I would head south to Sanya, then a quiet town mostly based around fishing. Beaches were beautiful and devoid of people, in contrast to today's capacity crowds. But the highpoints of Hainan to me were inland, around the mountainous town of Tongshi, now called Wuzhishan. A centre for Li and Miao ethnic culture, it proved an amazing area to explore on foot. Tropical forests clung to the surrounding slopes, while flatter surfaces carried extensive fields of rice . Under beautiful, warm skies, it was a real experience taking in the scenes and sounds. It was a tranquility enhanced by hauntingly beautiful music drifting from somewhere nearby.