A Beijing drifter

A former graphic art designer, Yang said his idea to shoot love stories in Beijing actually stemmed from his own lovelorn story.

"I still feel strange about it. Why I came up with such a warm idea while at the lowest tide of my life," Yang recalled. "Maybe I was looking for some kind of sentimental comfort from other people."

Probably more in line with his feelings at the time, he was also working on a darker project at the time - The Bloody Little Red Riding Hood.

"I think a person is always in a status of conflict, and I want to push both to an extreme point. The two clash thematically, but they have the same emotional affect - an emotional release," Yang explained.

Like many non-native Beijingers, the 1981-born Yang came to the capital for a better opportunity. His real name is Yang Qingbin.

Having worked in the advertisement industry for five years, he found his job as a graphic designer put him at the bottom of the food chain. Yang soon discovered that he was only able to follow customer demands instead of realizing his own personal ideas.

The same year that Yang lost his girlfriend, he quit his job and turned his hobby - photography - into a profession.

Although believing this the best way to bring his own innovative ideas to life, Yang said that these four years were also difficult and especially chaotic. Working as a freelancer for different companies, he sometimes goes months without a paycheck. At one point he thought about leaving the city.

Yang has always been very conflicted in his feelings about the capital, "I have the most freedom I have ever had and the greatest sense of ego in Beijing, but at the same time I've lost a lot, including a close relationship with my parents, relatives and former friends, all of whom live in a small town in Shandong Province and are unable to understand me."