A visitor looks at photos of Hungary at the exhibition Images from the Red Nations. [Ruan Fan / chinadaily.com.cn] For more photo, click here

"Though both of them are socialist countries, the lifestyle of their people and the cultural landscapes were so different," Na said. "So I thought maybe it would be interesting if we could provide a more general impression of what the socialist countries are like," he said.

Na suggested that Liu Yuan take photos of not just present socialist countries, but also former members of the communist bloc. Liu agreed at once.

Driven by the desire to see those countries himself, Liu Yuan has travelled to more than a dozen countries in the following five years.

The pictures, which are both thoughtful and spontaneous, are visual impressions tinged by Liu's own personal history and experience.

"His photos are non-dogmatic and straightforward, but they are always in connection to something deeper within himself," said Robert Pledge, who wrote the foreword for the exhibition.

Pledge said that Liu's photos express a form of nostalgia, which is reflected through the sheer accumulation of multiple "fragments of superficial impressions".

The curator chose 200 photos from the over 200,000 "fragments" Liu had captured, hoping to present a more objective view of the countries.

He also went out of his way to make the exhibition more appealing, projecting pictures over cubic boxes aside from just hanging them on the walls and providing a special section where songs from the former Soviet Union are played over the projections.

The photos form a small kaleidoscope for audiences to catch a glimpse of the red nations. "It might also have research significance in sociology and anthropology," said Yin Dejian, publisher of the photo album of the exhibition.

"We might not fully comprehend the implications and the significance of these pictures, but who knows, ten or twenty years later, they might speak for themselves," Yin said.