The 185 photographs presented here are chosen from 200,000 that Kobota took in China between 1978 and 1985. He filmed all regions, including tropical Kishuangbanna, Guilin's mountains (from the air), the grasslands of Inner Mongolia, and the snow and smokestacks of northern Manchuria. He generally saw people in group activity, whether at prayer or wrestling or bicycling to work, and he waited for the precise moment to photograph. The results are superb, calling the viewer to pore over the wealth of detail in foreground and background. Captions are essential; unfortunately they are segregated at the end. Even so, this sets a new standard of excellence among photographic books on China.