The waterway in snapshots

Zhong took up photography as a hobby in 2009, capturing rural life by the canal in Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, visiting families who still stay in barges and taking pictures of their lives on water. He noted the closing down of many factories along the canal. He also chronicled the shifting of the century-old Hua Feng Paper Mill in 2018.

Using his spare time over the past decade, Zhong has photographed cities and towns along ancient waterways in the Yangtze River Delta, including the Grand Canal. Now that he has retired from his regular job, he plans to go up north and click more canal settlements.

"I have tried my best to document people's everyday lives for years. These photos mirror the passage of time. We will surely witness more changes along the waterway as the country develops," he says.