Sea Breeze

The project Sea Breeze focuses on the urbanization of Xiamen. It documents the intermediate state of Xiamen's transformation.

Xiamen is one of six special economic zones, separated from Taiwan by a channel. The Siming District facing Taiwan has long been a more mature urban area, while the Huli District, which is inland, has been slower to develop and still has many villages. 

I grew up in one of these villages, which has no clear boundaries. When the bus rapid transit line was built, it was the most talked about topic in our village. Relatives would ask each other if they had a test ride on the BRT and how the experience was. 

And when the opening of the subway was announced, I was studying for my undergraduate degree in Beijing, and whenever I came home for summer and winter vacations, my parents would say at the dinner table that a new subway line had been built.

Concrete began to appear in the village. People back then scrambled to build more and taller houses so that they could get more compensation when the government expropriated them later. Our yard changed too, as my parents cut down the banyan trees, poured cement on the land, and installed a security gate. The well in the yard was preserved, its bricks connected to the newly tiled floor. I used to lean over the side and look down into the calm bucket and the moss that covered the walls of the well.

Then we were leaving the village, and in the last semester of my senior year, my parents FaceTimed me telling me that the village had been razed. By the time I returned home, only the village's ancient temple remained. Fortunately, I had already had the idea to start documenting our village and left some photos. After realizing how fast the demolition process was going, I started contacting my relatives and friends who also lived in the village, and then I spent most of my vacations carrying my camera to other villages, trying to document them before they were destroyed by the bulldozers.

It was often a hot and humid day back when I was taking pictures, then I thought many unforeseen things did happen at this island surrounded by the sea just like the weather, so I gaved this series the name Sea Breeze.