Huang comes from a returned Indonesian Chinese family; he was born in China's southernmost island province of Hainan and sees himself as a Hainan native.

40 years ago, Huang stepped out of his small, uncultured village, and came to Haikou City, the capital of Hainan Province to get educated. After graduation, Huang became a professional photographer, but he never thought that from the moment he put his hands on a camera, it would become an inseparable part of his life.

Huang has recorded the change of Hainan with tens of thousands of photos. They tell the story of a small island that is growing up to become a world-class vacation destination and center for international conventions. People now call it “ Oriental Hawaii.”

Although Haikou City was much better than Huang's hometown, it was still a small fishing town in the 1980s. However, the longer he lived there, the more apparent it became to Huang that the small city was in the early stages of a major transformation. Different from other photographers, he moved his lens away from the dressed-up people to the changes around him, to the barber shops, the roads, the markets, and the workers.

Huang was a young man when he started pointing the camera at the change happening around him.

Now he has retired. In Huang's words, the development has been happening so fast that he couldn't keep up with his camera. Haikou City is now 30 to 40 times its former size. 

The clock tower Huang mentioned stands in a downtown park. With beautiful afforestation along the riverside, many people come to do their morning exercise here. In Huang's memories, the park was a busy dock. During the 1990s, many dockers worked and lived here. Huang talked to them and recorded their life. No one knows where they have gone, but the dockers and Huang witnessed the change of the landmark tower's surroundings together.

Huang said today's Hainan could not be separated from their contributions, and those contributions should also not be separated from the government's help.

The Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) is one of the most significant projects promoting development in Hainan Province. In 2001, when the first BFA was announced, the world began to pay close attention to the island. Huang was among the first batch of photographers who were invited to cover the forum.

In 10 years, he saw the small county turn into the location for the “Asian Davos.” Annually, leaders from government, business, and academia in Asia and other continents come to discuss important aspects of economics, integration, cooperation, society, and the environment.

The BFA transformed the county into a mature multi-functioning media center that helps promote global development in many areas.

Huang has held a camera for 40 years. He said that photography is his life and promises to keep recording his home for as long as he can.