Tom Carter’s photo book CHINA: Portrait of a People is the cover story for this month’s Shanghai TALK Magazine.

After two years teaching English in Shandong and Beijing, Tom Carter still felt like he didn’t know the “real” China, so the self-proclaimed nomad put his camera and life savings into a backpack and began an epic trek through the Middle Kingdom. Two years, 33 provinces, 56,000 kilometres and several run-ins with the law later, Carter had seen every corner of China and taken over 10,000 pictures of the people who make up the world’s most populous nation … With the international release of his book this summer, the rest of the world can now tag along on Carter’s eye-opening journey through China’s biggest cities and far-flung regions and discover what China really looks like. TALK sat down with Carter to find out how he managed to finagle his way into the hearts and homes of China’s people, and take the pictures to prove it.

Tom will be speaking about his travels and photography at M on the Bund in Shanghai on Sunday August 8th, at 4:00pm. RMB65 includes a drink. Call (+86 21) 6350 9988 for enquiries.