Best of 2025: Travel Photography Highlights Across China

Looking back, 2025 was a very special year for me—my first gap year, which gave me the time and space to slow down, travel, and photograph more intentionally. This “Best of 2025” collection highlights my favorite moments from trips across China, from city skylines and street scenes to quiet landscapes and small everyday details.

Sunlit close-up of pink and white crabapple blossoms in bloom during golden hour in Beijing, China.

Sunset skyline at Shenzhen Talent Park, with illuminated modern skyscrapers reflected on the calm waterfront.

Aerial view of a winding river bathed in golden morning mist during a sunrise flight from Beijing to Hangzhou, China.

Crowded Beijing hutong street during Chinese New Year, decorated with glowing red lanterns and fish lanterns, with people walking and a cyclist at night.

Traditional Chinese pavilion roof in Fushan Park, Shaoxing, overlooking the city with a distant hilltop pagoda and hazy mountain ranges in the background.

Aerial view from a flight to Xiamen, China, showing layered blue mountain ranges and thin cloud bands in morning haze.

An orange stray cat sitting on a stone wall with a lush green tea plantation in the background in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.

Illuminated traditional wooden corridor and stone steps during early morning at Faxi Temple in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.

Aerial view of the “Four Dishes and One Soup” Fujian Tulou complex in Nanjing, surrounded by terraced fields and misty green mountains.

Sunrise over Beijing’s Second Ring Road, with a quiet tree-lined avenue and cars driving beneath a golden sky.

Balanced zen stones stacked on a pebble beach with crashing ocean waves in Xiamen, China.

Local resident riding a scooter down a narrow stone-paved street lined with parked motorcycles and small shops in the old town of Quanzhou, Fujian, China.

Golden sunrise over the modern city skyline and Qiantang River in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.

Nighttime city traffic driving under illuminated ginkgo leaf light decorations on Financial Street in Beijing, China.

This set is a mix of places and moods: spring blossoms and city lights, lantern-filled nights, temples and traditional architecture, winding rivers seen from above, coastal textures, and golden-hour drives where the whole road seems to glow. Some photos are about atmosphere—color, light, and movement—while others are about details, like patterns in rooftops, layers of mountains, or small scenes that only last a few seconds before they disappear.

A few simple tips helped me capture these moments. For busy streets and festivals, I like shooting slightly wider to include context, then waiting for one “clean” subject to walk into the frame. For skylines and sunsets, lowering exposure a touch keeps highlights and clouds from blowing out. And for landscapes, especially mountains, I look for layering—foreground, midground, background—so the scene feels deep rather than flat.

Honestly, I didn’t always appreciate the beauty close to home when I was younger. But the older I get, the more I notice how varied—and genuinely stunning—these everyday landscapes can be. If you’d like to see more, click here to see the full album of 2025.

Visit the Gallery and Yearly Albums to browse more photos directly.