Photo by Wing Young Huie / For China Daily

He will exhibit the photos he took in Guangdong in his gallery in Minneapolis at a show opening June 21, as part of a project called "Chinese-ness".

Li Rongjian, Huie's distant relative in Guangzhou who owns a restaurant, helped to arrange the photographer's trip to Guangdong, booking accommodation, finding an interpreter and renting a car for his visit to Taishan.

"I appreciate his idea of showing the real China to foreigners with his photos. But I hope that he won't photograph only the poor people and migrant workers," Li says.

"China is growing fast to be more and more powerful, and people's lives here are getting better and better. I think Huie should show this good side to Americans, too."

Huie responds that his is a long-term project, and he will come back to China to visit more cities and photograph more segments of the society.

"Everyone has biases and stereotypes," Huie says. "Having direct conversations with people you don't know is the way to be aware of your biases and stereotypes and close the gap between perception and reality.

"That's what my projects want to tell the audience."