A giant shrinks A photo essay about China's historic population decline. By Justin Jin

New mothers and babies receive full-time care at a luxury post-natal center. The private centers are a paid alternative for the widely-practiced "zuo yezi” period (meaning: sitting for a month) when, according to traditional Chinese medicine, a new mother stays indoor for one month and refrains from all activities, including washing her own hair. Many urban women in today’s China favor facilities like these where they can practice the method with modern comfort. Some of those who cannot afford the costs of raising children this way opt to have no children at all, resulting in the country’s population decline.

A former concert violinist teaches children. Well-off Chinese parents with only one child often pay for extracurricular activities to ensure future success for their son or daughter, adding to the expense of raising a child in today’s China.

This sprawling industrial city in southwestern China grew rapidly for many decades, spawning a still vibrant tradition of eating in crowded outdoor hotpot venues. The dense urban area’s population is estimated to be more than 17 million. As the region developed, subways were built above and below ground to ease congestion.

This five-year-old girl visits her great-grandfather and great-grandmother. The couple had three children who each had one child in accordance with the one-child policy, but this is their only great-grandchild.

As the global population surpasses the eight billion mark, I went to China for the National Geographic Magazine to explore how the world's most populous country is, in fact, shrinking. This project takes me to six provinces where I met people of all ages. JJ

Tian Siguo, 80, and his wife, Hu Zhongzi, 77, tend a plot on the outskirts of a mega-city. In exchange for an apartment in a new high-rise, millions of farmers like them have surrendered their ancestral land. The Chinese government is rapidly developing farmland on the edge of cities.

In a vivid display of how gender roles are shifting in urban areas, women at a karaoke bar enjoy the company of a male escort hired for their night out. Young, professional women in China are increasingly choosing their careers and social lives over settling down to marry and have children.

Youngsters are hanging out together in the evening. Some are chatting, skating or sing Karaoke.

Women aged between 40 - 80 act as models at a fashion show at a hotel. The women say they had little opportunities to express themselves or celebrate their beauty growing up in a China that was poorer and more tradition-bound. Nowadays China is a more liberal society and these women have time and money to dress-up. As China’s birth rate declines, many older people find themselves with the liberty — and the burden — of taking care of themselves.

The rising cost of child-rearing has led this newly married couple to plan on having just one child, or perhaps none. Raising children, she thinks, is too demanding. “I want to give my child the best,” she says, “but I also want to have my own life and not be tied to childcare.”

Friends take their dogs for a swim at a pet activity center. He has a dog and three cats. He doesn’t want the responsibility of caring for children but dotes on his pets. “I am their father,” Li says. “I’m ready to sacrifice for them and give them time.”

Photographer. Writer. Storyteller. Justin Jin captures a changing world through stories of real lives.

Justin is commissioned by global media, corporations and NGOs to craft visual and text narratives around the world. He uniquely combines image-making and long-form writing to tell stories for high-end magazines. International prizes including multiple awards at Pictures of the Year International attest to his dedication.

Speaking five languages -- English, Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese, Russian, French and Dutch, Justin cuts through cultural barriers to the heart of diverse themes.

Born in Hong Kong, he studied philosophy and social science at Cambridge University. His started his career as a journalist at Reuters news agency in London and Beijing, and then embarked on an independent path, having lived in Moscow, Amsterdam and now Brussels.

Justin is Sony's global ambassador.

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