In 1986, Yangshuo was still a rural farming valley shaped by seasonal agriculture and dramatic limestone formations. I made this photograph from the edge of a harvested rice field, looking toward the karst peaks that have long defined the region.

Rice cultivation was central to daily life, following rhythms that had changed little over generations. With little tourism or major development at the time, the landscape remained in a fragile balance between human use and its natural form.

Within a few years, Yangshuo would become an international destination, and scenes like this would begin to disappear beneath new roads, hotels, and increased river traffic.