In 1986, Yangshuo remained 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.

At the time, rice cultivation was central to daily life, governed by rhythms that had changed little over generations. The absence of large-scale tourism or development allowed the landscape to exist in relative balance between human use and natural form.

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