HEALING HAND: Liang Zi helps ease the pain of a woman in Eritrea (COURTESY OF LIANG ZI)

Ongoing discoveries

Liang's successful start encouraged her to continue her adventures. She returned to Africa eight more times, including trips to Sierra Leone in West Africa, Eritrea by the Red Sea and Burundi in East-Central Africa. Each time, she wrote books or shot documentaries as a record of her trips.

"The more I go to Africa, the less I think I know about the mysterious continent," Liang said. "It encourages me to come back." Her images introduce the continent's wide open landscapes, sunny weather, roaming animals and smiling faces to Chinese audiences .

Liang said that she is impressed by the Red Sea fishermen. Although they don't have much money, they are optimistic and happy with life, and don't stress about trivial matters, something Liang said that others could do well to learn.

"Africa is lacking in economic development compared with some other places, but African people always smile and enjoy their life," Liang said.

As with all travel, Liang has seen her fair share of challenges in Africa. In 2003, she went to a small village called Tio near the Red Sea in Eritrea. It was her third trip to the continent. She found that the women there did not want their pictures taken.

"I knew they did not think of me as their friend, and I had to show them that I was there as a friend," Liang said. She set aside her cameras and lived with the local women like a native, talking to different families and getting to know who they were. When some of the villagers became ill, she helped out by offering Chinese medicine and massage techniques. As villagers had little or no access to medicine, her help was welcomed. Liang found that after more than a month, when she picked up her cameras once more to record village life, this time there was no objection.

"They had come to consider me as a friend. People, no matter where they live, have the same feelings: When you are friendly, they will welcome you," said Liang, who believes this is the reason she has been welcomed by locals during her trips to Africa.

In 2011, Liang's documentary I Love Africa aired on Travel Channel, a broadcaster based in south China's Hainan Province. The 30-episode documentary, which recorded her trips to Africa over the past decade, received a warm reception from audiences.

Liang has also visited Afghanistan four times to shoot videos documenting the changes to women's status after the rise of the Taliban.

Now, Liang is planning her next trip to Africa later this year.

She attributes a lot of her success to the strong support of her family, who she says are very open-minded, and also to the fact that her husband is a photographer too. "He knows what photographers must do to realize their dream," Liang said.

Liang's Works

2001: A Chinese Woman Photographer's Life in a Village in Lesotho (book)

2002: Africa Right There (4-episode documentary)

2003: In a Family of the Bush in West Africa (book)

2005: Amidst the Red Sea and Desert (book)

2009: A Non-Native's African Tribal Life (book)

2011: I Love Africa (TV documentary)

2012: I Love Africa (book)

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