Ma Jian, Red Dust: A Path Through China Ma Jian was born in 1953 in Qingdao, China. He is a photographer, painter, poet, and writer. In 1983, confronted with a failed marriage, an estranged young daughter, and a girlfriend involved with another man, he abandoned Beijing and set out for the most remote parts of China. Red Dust is the account of this three-year trek across the country. He currently lives in London.