For over thirty years, Patrick Zachmann has traveled across China, a country he discovered in 1982 while reporting on the Chinese film industry. From Hong Kong triads in the 1980’s to the mutation of the city of Beijing through Tiananmen Square protests, this book brings together around 350 B&W and colour photographs, in which the small and the great history meet in a changing country. The underlying theme of this long-term work is the issue of identity, that becomes for the new generations in loss of marks of identity, a major concern.

In an intimate format, this book recalls the travel diary punctuated with excerpts from Patrick Zachmann’s travel log written during his travels. These quotes bring new light on these photographs, as well as on the work of a photographer in a society where censorship and state manipulations prevail.