Yu Jiahua was born in Shanghai in 1952. When he was 14 years old, China began the great revolution of culture (Cultural Revolution). All of the schools in China stopped having class. Mr. Yu picked up a camera and loved it. The revolution and freedom from school allowed him to travel. He began taking pictures with a rented camera.
He first came to Guizhou at age 17 (1969) because in that time President Mao ordered him to leave Shanghai, as many city people had to go to the countryside. This was intended to educate the young people about the world and rural China. He began learning English in 1976 as it had become fashionable. He was not a student at that time and he had to learn by himself from records, radio, TV, and other English materials.
He began taking Guizhou photos in 1969 and has been taking pictures of Guizhou for over forty years. Around 2000 his photography was very famous in Guizhou and was published in the Guizhou Daily News and several other Guizhou publications.