Sha Fei's works [Photo provided to China Daily]

One photo at the show depicts Bethune in the middle of an operation. It is one of dozens of snapshots focusing on soldiers in Jinchaji and battle scenes from the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45).

Through Sha's lens, people also see a lively, gentle side of Bethune.

His other portraits at the exhibition show Bethune getting along with villagers, enjoying an egg dish cooked by his guardian, He Zixin, sunbathing and even swimming nude.

Sha's signature works also capture moments when Nie Rongzhen (1899-1992), then Jinchaji's top commander, took care of an orphaned Japanese girl whose parents had died in a bombing.