This particular image was taken during a trip I took to China in 1999 and shows passengers disembarking from boats on the Yangzi River at the small town of Fengjie (Fenji). As can be seen in the picture, access from boats to the town was gained by walking across barges and walkways over the water before climbing up the steep stairs to the town proper.
The history of the town actually dated back beyond the year 700BC during which era it was an important commercial centre for the region. The weather was dreary and showering rain on the date of the photograph, perhaps an omen for the town which when I visited was on borrowed time. It has since been abandoned, submerged beneath the waters of the Yangzi River following the completion of the Three Gorges dam project which at the time was well underway.
The image was originally captured on 35mm colour negative film using a Pentax SF7 with 80-400 mm zoom lens.
This image is part of my China 1999 image gallery. ~KD.