China’s entertainment industry is big business. China's box office sales were $1.5 billion in 2010 and that sum is expected to grow as more construction of movie theaters are planned, according to the China Daily.

With thousands of years of history to draw upon, period films are a favorite genre for the Chinese audience. Hired as a still photographer for one of these feature films, Sheila Zhao passed her time by taking personal photos, depicting her fascination with modern individuals functioning in a beautiful yet artificial environment.

The movie, "Wheat," set during China’s Warring States era, took almost three months to film and brought the cast and crew to a sprawling, stunning area of China that borders Siberian Russia.

Take a look at Between Takes: China's Film Industry

Sheila Zhao is a freelance documentary photographer currently based in Beijing, China. Zhao has been living in China since 2005, after receiving a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Indiana University. After an initial start at an international public relations agency, she decided to shift her focus and pursue a career in photography in mid 2007. Since then, Zhao’s work has appeared in various international and domestic Chinese media.