Guizhou through a Japanese amateur photographer's lens

Hiyane in Colorful Danxia scenic spot in Zhangye city, North China's Gansu province. [Photo by Hiyane Yusuke/provided to eguizhou.gov.cn]

Hiyane Yusuke, a 34-year-old man from Osaka, Japan, never thought he would have such an influence on the internet when he started posting photos of China's landscapes on social media.

During his stay in Beijing as an exchange student 10 years ago, he took a liking to China and wished to share it with the Japanese people. Now, as a company employee living in Shanghai, he has visited Guizhou, Yunnan, Qinghai, Gansu, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Jiangsu and Shanghai in his free time in order to capture the best views China has to offer.

Xiaoqikong scenic spot, a famous national nature reserve in Libo county [Photo by Hiyane Yusuke/provided to eguizhou.gov.cn]

In 2021, he visited Guizhou for the first time to reconnect with an old friend and took the chance to photograph Guizhou's unique landscapes. During his visit, he was amazed by the beauty of Xiaoqikong scenic area, a national nature reserve in Libo county, and tried some Guizhou baijiu.

The only thing that disappointed him was the weather, as it wasn't ideal for photography, but a second chance arose in March this year.

When he learned about the beauty of Guian's cherry blossom park in spring, Hiyane decided to pay a visit. The whole area was covered with pink cherry blossoms and flooded with people wearing hanfu, making it an ideal place to take some photos.

A pink sea of cherry blossoms in Guian [Photo by Hiyane Yusuke/provided to eguizhou.gov.cn]

His photos of the stunning cherry blossoms received a lot of attention on Twitter, with many netizens expressing their surprise and admiration of the park's beauty. Hiyane hopes that his photos will help raise awareness of the natural wonders that China has to offer and encourage more people to explore the country.

Hiyane has been exploring China's beautiful natural landscapes through photography ever since he realized that many Japanese people are unaware of the country's hidden gems. He believes that China has many world heritage sites and beautiful landscapes that remain unknown to most Japanese tourists and are worth sharing.

A night view of Guiyang taken by Hiyane [Photo by Hiyane Yusuke/provided to eguizhou.gov.cn]

His passion for photography has paid off, as he has won awards at the Tokyo International Foto Awards, Budapest International Foto Awards and Expats Eye Shenzhen Photo Contest.

"China is a vast country, with varying degrees of diversity from south to north and from east to west, which fascinates me," Hiyane said, "In Japan, there are still many people who do not know much about China. Even though my influence is limited, I hope to use my camera to help more Japanese people learn about the real China."