Xuelin Wa Autonomous Township in the uplands of Southeast Asia in southwest Yunnan Province looks and feels as though it has stood still in time. It is a study in contrast between new and old, rich and poor, past and present, mainstream and alternative, majority and minority, and other more stark and subtle societal divisions that seemingly only years of turmoil and destruction followed by a frenetic race to modernize and develop could possibly embody. As such, Xuelin is a microcosm of the dynamics of change that envelope China.
Photos by Naomi Hellmann
