Explorer with a lens captures China's unique history
Photojournalist Michael Yamashita has published 10 books, most of which were inspired by his 30 National Geographic stories.
He has also made documentaries based on his travels. The next topic he wants to tackle is China and its rail-ways.
Here are four of Yamashita's award-winning projects about China:
Marco Polo: A Photographer's Journey (White Star,2004)
Yamashita retraces Marco Polo's journey from the Grand Canal in Venice through the deserts of Iraq and Iran, across Afghanistan's war zone, along the Silk Road and "the roof of the world "in Qomolang-ma (Mount Everest)and on to China. Like Marco Polo, he returns home by way of coastal Sumatra, Sri Lanka and India. Historian Gianni Guadalupi writes the book's evocative text. A selection of maps retraces the incredible 13th-century expedition. Yamashita's Marco Polo project was a three-year assignment for National Geographic and was published across three issues of the National Geographic Channel's documentary Marco Polo: The China Mystery Revealed. The work received two Asian Television and Film Awards and ranked among the channel's 20 most popular documentaries of the decade.
CHINA DAILY
Zheng He: Tracing the Epic Voyages of China's Greatest Explorer (White Star, 2006)
Before Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama and Ferdinand Magellan, Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) admiral Zheng He sailed seven voyages from China to 30 countries in 28 years. His hundreds of vessels sailed from Southeast Asia to Africa, and from India to the Middle East, gathering riches, scientific knowledge, fame and power for his emperor. Yamashita traces each of Zheng's journeys and pays homage to the achievements of this relatively unknown explorer. His feature documentary, The Ghost Fleet, won best historical documentary at the New York International Independent Film Festival.
CHINA DAILY
The Great Wall: From Beginning to End (Sterling, 2007)
This is a collaboration between Yamashita and William Lindesay. Lindesay has trekked the Wall's entire length and spearheads the movement to preserve it. Yamashita spent a year shooting the Wall, its environs and the people who live in its shadow. The book provides an overview that debunks myths and dishes up rare facts and figures. It's a comprehensive history that proceeds dynasty by dynasty through the Wall's construction in a narrative arc infused with Lindesay's personal experiences on the bulwark.
CHINA DAILY
Shangri-La: Along the Tea Road to Lhasa (White Star; English in 2012, Chinese in 2013)
Chama Gudao, or the Tea-Horse Road, is a circuitous route from Yunnan province to Lhasa, capital of the Tibet autonomous region. Actually a network of roads, trails and highways－rather than one distinct course－was blazed for ancient trade between the Chinese military, who needed strong horses, and the Tibetans, who craved tea. This trade flourished from the 7th century until the 1950s. The way has gradually been paved. Yamashita travels the ancient route to explore tea cultivation and Tibetan culture before they were transformed by modernization.
CHINA DAILY
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