Adrien.bouchet.pictures

20/05/2026

Dehang is a Miao village set in nature, between karst peaks, a river and a spectacular waterfall.

On the village square, a woman was carrying heavy stones while, just next to her, men spent the afternoon betting around an automatic mahjong table. Further away, I followed the sound of drums to a class of young students being introduced to Miao drumming.

I felt like I was the only foreigner there during those days. The only conversations I managed to have in English were with two very connected local young women, who were telling the story of their village live from their phones: daily life, landscapes, local recipes. Most of our exchanges happened mid-stream, with Chinese viewers asking me questions in real time.

CHINA
2026

14/05/2026

In Fenghuang, costume photography feels almost like an institution.

Shops everywhere, costumes inspired by Miao and Tujia traditions, makeup, hairstyling, photo shoots in the old streets. Around it, a small economy takes shape too: photographers, rental shops, stylists, and local vendors selling flower crowns to complete the portraits. The whole town becomes a giant open-air photo studio.

People come alone, with friends, as couples or with family. Even the rain doesn’t really stop the sessions.

I photographed these scenes on the fly, without interrupting them. Portraits caught between staging, performed tradition and accidental beauty.

More views of Fenghuang and its old town in the previous post.

CHINA
2026

11/05/2026

Fenghuang (Phoenix Ancient City, Hunan).
Legend says that two phoenixes once flew over the Tuojiang River valley and found the landscape so beautiful they refused to leave.

An ancient town founded in 1704, crossed by the Tuojiang River, winding between rows of wooden stilt houses known as Diaojiaolou. Stone stepping bridges connect both sides of the river.

At night, the city lights up with thousands of spotlights, lanterns, and reflections on the water, turning the riverbanks into an open-air stage.

Like many places in this region, Fenghuang exists somewhere between living heritage and fully embraced tourist spectacle. It has been on UNESCO’s tentative World Heritage list since 2008.

CHINA
2026

06/05/2026

Furong (芙蓉镇), “the city hanging over a waterfall”.
Yes, really.

Over 2,000 years of history, dating back to the Han dynasty.
Today, the Tujia people live along these cliffs. Their wooden stilt houses cling to the edge, just above the water.

A 60 meter waterfall cuts straight through the town.
You can walk behind it, right into the noise and mist.

By day, it already feels unreal.
At night, everything shifts: lights, costumes, performances.. the town turns into a stage.

Hard to tell what’s everyday life and what’s being performed.
Somewhere between set and reality, it’s impossible to look away.

CHINA
2026

04/05/2026

Standing in Zhangjiajie since 2022, the « 72 Qilou », or « 72 Wonder Tower », is the world’s tallest stilted building: 109.9 meters.
Inspired by the architecture of Hunan and Tujia culture, the number 72 is not an exact count, it simply means « innumerable ».
Its central arch, 38 meters high, aligns visually with the Gate of Heaven on Tianmen Mountain, several kilometers away.
Every evening at 7:30pm, this strange building transforms into one giant open-air dancefloor with 36,000 LED lights, holographic projections to the rhythm of Tujia folk music.

Kitsch? Certainly.
Spectacular? Without question.

It was our first evening in China and we said to ourselves « Welcome in China ».

CHINA
2026

28/04/2026

At the end of the 99 bends road (see previous post), you come face to face with something improbable: a natural arch 131 meters high and 57 meters wide, pierced straight through the mountain. The Chinese call it the Gate of Heaven, « Tianmen ».

Its formation is documented in historical records: in 263 AD, the back wall of a massive cave collapsed in a single cataclysmic event, opening this passage to the sky. The mountain has carried that name ever since.

To reach it, 999 steps. The number 9 is no coincidence: in Chinese numerology, it represents eternity. 99 bends to climb, 999 steps to enter.

At the summit, a path clings to the cliff face above the void, looping around the entire mountain. The most breathtaking section: the Coiling Dragon Cliff, 100 meters long, 1.6 meters wide, suspended 1,430 meters above the valley with a floor made entirely of glass.

CHINA
2026

27/04/2026

From the cable car cabins, you first spot a white ribbon snaking across the mountain, drawn onto the slope rather than carved into it. This is Tongtian Avenue, literally « the avenue that leads to heaven. »
Eleven kilometres, 99 hairpin bends, climbing from 200 to 1,300 metres above sea level, seven years of construction.
The 99 bends are no coincidence, they symbolise the nine palaces of heaven in Chinese culture.
The road is not open to ordinary traffic, only buses driven by local drivers who know every single bend by heart. It has also become a stage for sporting challenges: Ferrari, Land Rover, Red Bull speed records, wingsuit flights, drift competitions.
At the summit: Heaven’s Gate. But that’s for the next post.

CHINA
2026

25/04/2026

After the posts on Hong Kong’s concrete buildings, here are some « natural buildings » made of quartzite sandstone, 380 million years old.
Zhangjiajie National Park, in Hunan Province, China, is home to more than 3,000 sandstone pillars, many exceeding 200 meters in height. Covered in vegetation and often shrouded in mist, they inspired the floating mountains in James Cameron’s Avatar.
Slide 7 shows the « First Natural Bridge Under Heaven »: a 20 meter sandstone slab connecting two peaks at 357 meters high, the world’s highest natural bridge.
The site has been UNESCO-listed since 1992.

To reach the summit, China built the world’s tallest outdoor elevator: the Bailong Elevator. 326 meters in less than two minutes.
A vertigo-inducing, surreal landscape.

CHINA
2026

24/04/2026

21/04/2026

Hong Kong is also its immense skyline of skyscrapers squeezed between the mountains and the sea. For me, it’s the most spectacular skyline I’ve ever seen — both in scale and in the variety of viewpoints it offers. Here in a few photos from the harbour aboard the Aqua Luna, a traditional Chinese junk with red sails, or from the heights of Victoria Peak.

At 8pm, it’s « A Symphony of Lights ». Over 40 buildings light up together to the rhythm of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. Lasers, LEDs, spotlights... The city puts on the world’s largest permanent light and sound show. 14 minutes. Every night, since 2004.

Hope to come back one day, love the vibes of this city

HONG KONG
2026