From the Land of Rice and Opium

Sofiia Yablonska is a landmark Ukrainian figure: a travel blogger, cinematographer, photographer, writer, emancipator, and feminist who traveled the world.
In her book «From the Land of Rice and Opium» Yablonska offers a fascinating travelogue that introduces the reader to the world of 1930s China. She candidly and without embellishment writes about her own experience with opium addiction and how she witnessed the execution of "pirates."
Yablonska not only observed life in China but also sought to capture it on film. However, her work was hindered by the beliefs of the local residents, who thought that "the solitary gaze of the magical apparatus had the power to bring upon them illness, or even death." She often had to wait for hours, spoil film, and then leave with nothing. To be able to work, she rented a space, creating the illusion of a commercial business, and filmed the local residents from her window.
«I went to China to see the Chinese, to get to know their lives, customs, art, faith», Yablonska wrote in her memoirs, inviting the reader on an authentic and unforgettable journey.