Most of these 19 photographs were taken during a trip through China between September and October 2024. The journey crossed much of the country, beginning in Qinghai Province in the west, passing through Zhejiang Province in the east, and finally returning to Qinghai.

Except for photograph 12, all photographs were taken with a 35mm prime lens, with some cropping, perspective correction, and minor color adjustments in post-processing.

1. Wuyue Plaza, Xining, Qinghai, 10 September 2024

A child holds onto the doorframe and looks outside, drawn to the colorful world beyond it. One foot is poised to cross the threshold, but the right hand resting lightly against the glass reveals a trace of hesitation. The people hurrying past may foreshadow the child’s future: walking freely across the broad square yet still constrained by invisible rules. Standing behind the glass, I felt as though I were looking at my younger self—brave yet small, full of hope and imagination.

2. Nanhexia, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, 18 September 2024

Everyone born in the 1980s probably has a lane like this somewhere in their memory. It is chaotic, narrow, worn, and perhaps not very tidy, yet it carries an entire childhood. Seeing this scene brought those memories back to me. Slightly tangled electrical wires and clotheslines crossed overhead, with laundry hanging on one side and green vines winding around the other. The wires followed the last light of the setting sun into the hidden lane in the distance. What was there? Friends, and the family who were there as I grew up.

3. Sanba, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 2 October 2024

Eight years ago, I never imagined that I would leave Hangzhou. Perhaps this departure was only temporary, or perhaps it was forever. At 6:30 in the morning, sunlight once again entered through the window. The curtains had been left open all night. I lay on the bed, half asleep and half awake, with no bedding and still wearing my clothes. Sunlight slowly filled the room, and I knew that the day had finally arrived. I got up and stood by the window. Of the eight and a half years I had spent in Hangzhou, six and a half had been here. Everything seemed unchanged, but looking at my reflection in the glass, I could clearly feel that I was no longer quite the same.

4. Qinghai Lake, Hainan Prefecture, Qinghai, 19 October 2024

It had been only fourteen years since my first visit to Qinghai Lake, but more than thirty years since these three people first met. The same three people, the same car, the same person driving, the same laughter along the way, and the destination was once again Qinghai Lake. Yet time had already written a different story for each of us, with our own lives, attachments, and uncertainties forming complicated paths. Being an only child comes with a certain loneliness, but I still feel fortunate. The friends who watched me grow up are still there, ready to sit down and talk about what has been good and bad in life lately.

5. Outskirts of Lanzhou, Gansu, 10 September 2024

After driving back and forth several times, I finally decided to stop and take a photograph of this woman. She stood beside the road on two crutches, looking into the distance as though waiting for something. I politely asked whether I could take her photograph. She agreed, then adjusted her clothes and even tried to put down her crutches. I quickly suggested that she keep holding them, as it looked more natural and would also be easier for her.

While we talked, I learned that she lived just behind us and that the electricity was out, with no idea when it would return. I asked whether she had WeChat so I could send her the photograph. She smiled a little awkwardly and said that she did not have a phone. She suggested that if I happened to pass by again, I could print the photograph and bring it to her.

6. South Gate of Slender West Lake, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, 19 September 2024

What does the end look like? Perhaps it resembles this wooden chair, abandoned in the corner of an old house awaiting demolition. Outside the window, everything is green and alive; inside, dust has long covered the chair. It once gave people a place to rest, but now it is powerless against what is coming. Soon the house will fall, and the chair will meet its end in the wind. Who once cried in it? Who once sat there at ease? Those stories and emotions will fade into the past. Yet when our own end approaches, we can still straighten our backs and face it with a smile. Life lasts only a few decades. Whether lived dramatically or quietly, perhaps seeing the sunrise, looking up at a sky full of stars, and having lived at all are enough.

7. Feicui City, Baoji, Shaanxi, 12 September 2024

Moving house can be a choice, or it can be forced upon you. A sudden rainstorm set off a series of events no one could have predicted. Floodwater carried mud down from the mountains through the river channel and into the residential area, swallowing a warm home in chaos within moments. Even returning two months later, it was still possible to feel something of the fear and helplessness of that night. The darkness seemed to remain inside the room. Standing in the now empty house, the watermarks on the wall and a painting left behind gave a vague indication of how high the floodwater had reached. The light switch was still in the on position, but that night was destined to remain dark.

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8. Lianbao Yezhe, Aba County, Sichuan, 10 October 2024

There is nowhere quite like the Tibetan Plateau. It is a unique place, where I was born and grew up, and where endless solitude and legends begin. Every mountain and every lake has its own name and story, passed down for a thousand years and still told today. Lianbao Yezhe in Sichuan and Nyenbo Yurtse in Qinghai are two parts of the same mountain range. Nyenbo Yurtse is known as the “back garden of the gods”, with steep peaks, drifting clouds and mist, clear water, green grass, and flowers covering the land. Unfortunately, in April 2018, all tourism operations at Nyenbo Yurtse were suspended for environmental protection. Since then, Lianbao Yezhe in Sichuan has become the only way to see something of this garden of the gods.

The jagged peaks pierce the clouds like the points of a crown. Below them, the lake shifts between shades of blue and green as the clouds move. At the foot of the mountains, smooth rock walls rise straight into the sky, with light snow drifting down their faces.

9. Zhijiang Branch, Zhejiang Provincial Museum, Hangzhou, 26 September 2024

Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains is regarded as one of the ten great surviving masterpieces of Chinese painting. One of its original sections, The Remaining Mountain, was on temporary display at the Zhejiang Provincial Museum before the National Day holiday. On the day before the exhibition ended, I hurried to the museum to see the original. Although I had seen the painting countless times on television and in books, standing in front of it was still striking.

The Fuchun River forms the middle section of the Qiantang River, beginning at Meicheng in Jiande and ending at Wenyan in Xiaoshan. Its course runs across the Hangzhou region, much of it through mountainous country. Huang Gongwang, the painter, lived around the transition from the Song to the Yuan dynasty. At the age of seventy-nine, he returned with a friend to live by the Fuchun River and spent three years creating this painting for him. It became the most important work of his life. Over the centuries, the painting passed through many hands, survived a fire, and at one point nearly ended up buried as a funerary object. It was eventually divided into two sections: The Remaining Mountain is held by the Zhejiang Provincial Museum, while The Master Wuyong Scroll is held by the National Palace Museum in Taipei.

I have driven along both sides of the Fuchun River several times and seen it through different seasons. At sunrise, clouds and mist gather among the mountains. At sunset, the river turns red in the evening light. Spring is full of green, while winter brings touches of snow. Whether it is the winding river or the mountains along its banks, the landscape of the Fuchun River has always left a strong impression on me.

10. Baoshi Mountain, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 30 September 2024

Baochu Pagoda, standing on top of Baoshi Mountain, is one of the landmarks of Hangzhou’s West Lake. Unlike Broken Bridge, many people who have never visited West Lake do not know this old pagoda, and even some who have visited pronounce its name incorrectly. There are three famous pagodas among the hills around West Lake, the best known of which is Leifeng Pagoda. Leifeng Pagoda, like the “waters of West Lake”, has become a symbol of a tragic love story. Baochu Pagoda, standing across the lake from it, seems more like a slender watchman, still guarding the city after a thousand years. Unlike Leifeng Pagoda, which collapsed in modern times and was later rebuilt, Baochu Pagoda has remained standing despite repeated restorations. Seen from Hama Peak, it rises distinctly among Hangzhou’s modern high-rises, almost as if it were leading the city’s skyline, still full of life after a thousand years.

11. Huangshui River, Xining, Qinghai, 14 October 2024

Ever since I owned my first device capable of taking photographs, I have photographed this same place from this same angle countless times. At first, I used it to show my classmates what my hometown looked like. Now, I return to it in search of my own sense of homesickness. This place and this view have witnessed my change from someone who belonged here to someone returning as a visitor. Every time I come home, I go to the river and take another photograph, recording both how the place has changed and how I have changed over the twenty years since I left.

12. Outback New South Wales, Australia, 29 March 2024

I had never imagined land could be this barren. Even after driving all day at 110 kilometers per hour, the same flat, empty landscape stretched beyond the windows. Almost nothing changed except the position of the sun. Seen from above, the drive along that straight and monotonous inland highway resembled a time-lapse: shadows slowly turned counterclockwise from west to east, and the Southern Cross emerged in the night sky. The Australian outback makes you feel both alone and insignificant, drawing the mind toward fundamental questions. Deep in that landscape, I found myself thinking about the meaning and value of life. Every road eventually ends. Where, then, does mine lead?

13. Chaohu Service Area, Hefei, Anhui, 14 September 2024

At a highway service area, I met two university students selling cleaning products. They had been assigned to different service areas to promote the products and would be picked up together after work. Although the job market was difficult, they remained energetic and hopeful about the future. When I asked whether I could take their photograph, the young man on the left happily said to his companion, “This is the first photo of the two of us together!”

14. Huangnan Prefecture, Qinghai, 11 October 2024

Qinghai Province has two prefecture-level cities and six autonomous prefectures, and Huangnan was the last one I had yet to visit. This meant I could finally say with some pride that I had been to every prefecture-level city and autonomous prefecture in my home province of Qinghai. Since 2019, I had gradually traveled through each of them. I originally thought the goal would take three years, but because of the pandemic and other interruptions, I only managed to complete it this year.

15. Narrabri, New South Wales, Australia, 25 April 2024

Motels are part of the road-trip experience. In inland Australia, they are often among the few places to stay. Each shire and town has its own history and culture, reflected in the different styles of its motels. Outback motels also convey a simple trust between people. There is no need to show identification: you collect the key from a lockbox, let yourself into the room, and return the key when you leave. The whole arrangement is simple, direct, and built largely on trust.

16. Linqi Town, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 24 September 2024

This was my first time back in Hangzhou since leaving the city the previous year. The main purpose of the trip was to deal with some small belongings I had left behind in the rush to leave. I also wanted to see this city I had loved so much once again. The place I miss most around Hangzhou is Qiandao Lake, and among the roads leading there, my favorite is the Changwen Road. It is a relatively quiet road connecting Changhua Town in Lin’an with Wenchang Town in Chun’an, and it was widened and renovated in 2017. This Sinopec gas station is in Linqi Town, known for traditional Chinese medicine, at a three-way junction leading toward Chun’an County and the mountains north of Qiandao Lake.

17. Alibaba Xixi Campus, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 22 September 2024

This was my first time returning to Alibaba’s Xixi campus after leaving the company. Thanks to former colleagues who were still working there, I had the chance to enter the campus again, this time as a visitor. It would be impossible to work somewhere for five years without developing some attachment to it, especially when the place itself is so beautiful. I walked around the campus with my former colleagues, looking at what had changed. Even though all of us had worked there for more than five years, we still found quite a few things we had never noticed before.

18. Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, 27 April 2024

The cluster of skyscrapers rising beside the Pacific always reminds me of the dreamscape in Inception. The difference is that in the film, the buildings collapse and slide into the sea under the force of the waves, while the Gold Coast looks like the moment before any of that has happened. Waves keep rolling onto the beach, reaching the feet of the towers before losing their strength and retreating, over and over again. The buildings seem to mock the waves for their weakness and futility. But time, the real director, will eventually decide what succeeds and what fails, what rises and what declines. In the end, people are only a tiny part of the world, passing briefly through it.

19. Great Ocean Road, Victoria, Australia, 28 December 2024

As one of Australia’s best-known attractions and one of the world’s famous driving routes, Victoria’s Great Ocean Road is high on the list for many visitors. During the Christmas holiday at the end of 2024, I joined the stream of road trippers and visited its most famous attraction, the Twelve Apostles. December is midsummer in Australia, but temperatures along the Great Ocean Road were below 20 degrees. Combined with strong winds blowing in from the Southern Ocean, it felt unusually cold. The Twelve Apostles are distinctive because of the rock formations standing in the surf, looking almost as though they might collapse under the waves. Eroded continuously by wind and sea, the rocks change slightly every year, bearing witness to the passage of time and their endless battering by wind and waves.