From the Land of Rice and Opium — Sofia Yablonska

Sofia Yablonska is a Ukrainian travel blogger, cinematographer, photographer, writer, emancipator and feminist who has traveled around the world.

“From the Land of Ginger and Opium” is a fascinating travelogue that opens up the world of China in the 1930s. Sofia shares candidly and without embellishment how she became addicted to opium and witnessed the execution of “pirates”.

Yablonska not only observed life in China, but also tried to capture it on film. However, due to the Chinese belief that “a single glance from a magic apparatus can bring illness or even death upon them”, she often had to wait for hours, ruin the film, and then leave with nothing. In order to be able to work, she rented a room, creating the illusion of real commercial activity, and filmed locals from the window.

"I went to China to see the Chinese, to learn about their life, customs, art, and faith," Jablonska wrote in her memoirs.