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When contemplating China, people often imagine the crowded and increasingly cosmopolitan streets of Shanghai and Beijing.  I've been fortunate enough to visit and photograph these thriving metropolitan centres, documenting their frenetic energy and economic optimism. I am fascinated by the urban sprawl of China’s metropolises as these cities continue to grow.  It is amazing to me that China has more than 160 cities with a population greater than 1 million people, and I am very interested in how this is changing rural life for the Chinese who live in the outlying areas of these cities’ ever-expanding limits.

To this point, and to try and seek a different perspective on China, I have spent time documenting the more provincial cities and smaller rural towns of Yunnan province in the picturesque southwest of the country.  I relish photographing these quaint, unrehearsed scenes where traditional life is set against a stunning canvas of rugged, natural beauty.

I was recently contacted by my friends at Publicitas in Singapore; they were looking for a cover image and a photographic essay for Thai Airways' Sawasdee inflight magazine.  They were interested in featuring some of my China work, and I was more than happy to oblige.

A small collection of my China reportage appears on the cover and across 10 pages inside the October 2014

edition of Sawadee and includes photographs I made in Shanghai, Beijing, Lijiang and Diqing.

Often called the “Paris of the East”, Shanghai is modern China’s crown jewel, a city of shiny shopping malls and teeming skyscrapers mixed with European colonial concessions and traditional Chinese architecture.  Shanghai is a remarkable fusion of the modern and the historical, a hornet's nest of frenetic energy and (seemingly controlled) chaos, and I loved photographing this juxtaposition.

In Beijing I was drawn to the city’s labyrinthine hutongs (narrow streets and alleys) where local flavor and a taste of China’s cultural history endures.  I was also drawn to the 798 Art District in the Chaoyang District located outside the city.  Situated in decommissioned 1950s-era state-owned military factory buildings, 798 is home to Beijing's burgeoning arts scene.

Yunnan province lies within the picturesque region of southwest China, and is distinguished from the rest of the country by its geographic and cultural diversity.  Yunnan’s topography, rich in flora and fauna, stretches from the lush tropical rainforests of the south to the spectacular snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas.

Constructed toward the end of the twelfth century, Lijiang was the capital of the ancient Naxi Kingdom and a crucial

fortress on the Yunnan-Tibet “Old Tea Trade Route”.  Today, distinctive Naxi-style architecture and tradition still flank the cobblestone lanes of the quaint Old Town, and strolling these twisting lanes is a photographer’s delight: local artisans work in open doorways, women stir steaming pots on the pathways men play mahjong in cafés and there is a bounty of handmade jewellery, clothing, carvings and pottery for sale.  Outside the city, in the meadows nestled beneath the snowy peaks of the soaring Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, is home to dozens of ethnic minority groups, each with its own distinctive tribal costumes and traditional customs.

Further north, perched on the edge of the Tibetan plateau and within the rolling, rocky area designated Shangri-La by the Chinese government, visitors to Diqing and the surrounding villages will find a small but unique slice of giant and enigmatic China and be afforded glimpses into its charming and customary rural past.

Look for my 'Colours of China' photo essay if you're flying Thai Aiways this month.