When a heavy rain hit Beijing one afternoon in May, for many the first thing to do was to rush for cover. For photographer Yang Dong, however, his first thought was to take his camera. The next morning, Yang got up at 2:30 am and drove to the Great Wall. Arriving at the foot of the mountain an hour and a half later, Yang started to climb with all his photography equipment. Before sunrise, Yang had already set up his camera, hoping to catch an impressive moment when the Great Wall would be partly hidden in the clouds. With a large amount of patience, he got what he came for.
"After heavy rain or snow, the next morning is the best time to find a sea of clouds around the Great Wall," Yang says in a phone interview. The 28-year-old became popular on the Internet sharing the stories behind his photographs of the Great Wall over the past five years, with his stories being viewed more than 150 million times. One Internet user comments: "Only repeatedly measuring the Great Wall step by step can he know which angle (角度) is the most beautiful. I have never met such a professional photographer like him."
He is known as the Great Wall photographer, and his stories are well-known among the fans. What's more, he was invited to play a lead role in the documentary (纪录片) Loving the Great Wall issued in January, and was also the spokesman for the 2019 China Great Wall International Foto Week.
