From the Land of Rice and Opium

Sofiia Yablonska was a Ukrainian travel writer, cinematographer, photographer, author, emancipated woman and feminist who undertook a journey around the world.

From the Land of Rice and Opium is a captivating travelogue that opens up the world of 1930s China. With striking honesty, Sofiia recounts how she became addicted to opium and witnessed the execution of “pirates”.

Yablonska did not simply observe life in China — she also tried to capture it on film. But because many Chinese people believed that “a single glance from the magical apparatus could bring illness or even death”, she often had to wait for hours, waste film and leave empty-handed. In order to continue working, she rented a space to create the illusion of a legitimate commercial activity and photographed locals from the window.

“I went to China to see the Chinese, to understand their life, customs, art and faith,” Yablonska wrote in her memoirs.