Finding the Chinese Spirit is a project first conceived sub-consciously when I had no proposed plan to photograph China. It was then realized as a conscious effort midway through my backpacking trip, after some conversations with the locals and much thinking on long-distance journeys across the country.



China’s scenic splendours meant little to me. So does its mythological rise to being a global power, a topic that photojournalists around the world are rushing to document. What I seek in my photographs is an answer to the question: What does it mean to be Chinese? The Chinese spirit I am looking for is something that I think no amount of geological transformations and modern developments can change.



I am prepared to find both pretty and ugly answers to my question. Certainly, not everything is great about being Chinese. Regardless, I hope that this will turn out to be a way of figuring out where my ancestral roots lie, instead of blindly proclaiming that I am also a Chinese, like its 1.3 billion people.