Mountains of the Middle Kingdom

Scaled off for many years from foreign travel and influence, the mountainous west of China has only recently been reopened to certain visitors.

This unique text-and-photographic portrait is the fruit of several expeditions by photojournalist Galen Rowell, whose travels represent the most extensive exploration of Chinese mountain territory by any occidental since World War II. Woven from Rowell’s own experiences in the peaks and among the mountain peoples, illuminated by his superb images of landscape, wildlife, and human society, this volume provides a close-up view of a vast and still isolated land.