Portrait of an LBX

A Bouyei (布依族) man in a long line of other Bouyei men and women hauls watermelons from the river to the road above. Many of these porters were in sandles, busted shoes, or barefoot. The watermelons sell for 2 yuan ($0.29) per kilogram in Guiyang.

A Bouyei (布依族) man pauses from his work hauling watermelons from the boats to the road above.

While the Dai (傣族) men don't really have any traditional clothes on display outside of major holidays, many of them are tattooed. Strangely, most people can't read the Dai text (傣文), and many don't even know what their tattoos mean.

A man stands in the entrance to a tulou (土楼) in Xiazhai, Fujian. Tulou are large, almost castle-like structures with a thick, circular, earthen wall around the outside and homes around the inside and a courtyard and well in the middle. The unique structures serve as both a means of defense in rough times and as a place to keep a large family together in one place. The tulou in some areas have been recognized as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Those have been restored and of course have a hefty entrance charge slapped on them. We've been told the one we considered going to costs 120 yuan ($18) to get into.

Kaifeng has a massive and lively night market, consisting of dozens of stands selling street food of all varieties. Here, two chuanr (seasoned lamb on a stick) vendors share a laugh as they roast part of our meal.

Evan is in Beijing for 10 days and we took a bike ride last weekend to Sancha Village below the Great Wall. The family we stayed with consists of a husband and wife, who rent out a couple rooms in their house and cook meals, and their elementary school-aged son, who they send to live in the city with a relative during the week to attend school. They also take care of this mentally disabled man, who is friendly and endearing, but doesn't say much. I asked him if I could take his photo, and he closed his eyes and gave me a smile. He is lucky, though. So many of China's disabled citizens have no one to take care of and love them, and many of them wake up to the sight of the underside of an expressway rather than to fresh air, sun and green mountains.

This is an LBX whose story I really wish I knew. I saw him walking down the road in southern Yunnan province by himself, holding these bright green leaves and looking lost in thought. I still wonder where he was going and if the leaves were just something he picked up by the side of the road or if he was taking them somewhere with a purpose.