Beautiful Xiangxi《from amazon》

Product Description

See China through a different lens. Take a visual tour through a land that few Westerners have explored. Discover Hunan a beautiful and remote corner of China brought to vibrant life through the writings of one of the country's premier writers.

Travel the western Hunan Province the birthplace and source of inspiration for Chinese scholar and author Shen Congwen. Through his poetic words and the 300 soul-stirring photographs of Zuo Ya you'll enter a world of indescribable beauty a place where time stands still. A place where men women and children lead pure simple lives. A place where the river the very backbone of the village determines how the people live.

Shaped like of a horse's hoof Hunan is surrounded by mountains and has a humid subtropical monsoon climate. Gain an understanding of and an appreciation for the historical roots of modern China by viewing masterpieces of nature; the people as they live in the shadows of their ancestors. Meander through the marketplace where cloth beef oil salt and fake jade bracelets are sold. Take a trip down a river the very backbone of many villages where you'll hear the cries of traders in small boats selling their pork knuckles and noodles

About the Author

Shen Congwen (1902-1988) one of China's foremost scholars and writers is the prolific author of more than 70 books that focus primarily on the life and customs of the people of the western Hunan province. He is considered one of China's leading twentieth century writers.

Zuo Ya a member of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain and the Chinese Photographer Association spent 20 years and took over 10000 pictures capturing the spirit of Shen Congwen's Xiangxi. She now lives in Zhuhai a southern Chinese town next to Macau.