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Joseph F. Rock

A young Naxi man wears an elaborate hat made of red panda skin, China, 1929. While not nearly as famous as their larger namesakes, red pandas have faced similar threats from habitat loss and hunting for their pelts. This use of the resplendent fur is reminiscent of the ‘'coonskin hat’ made famous by American frontiersmen such as Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett – underlining the red panda's association with the raccoon.

China, 1925: a Tibetan nomadic woman wearing a traditional pointed hat poses for the camera. Tibet was long closed to Westerners; early reconnaissance missions to Mount Everest by British climbers saw John Noel disguise himself as a Tibetan nomad to gain passage into the province.

Tibet, 1955: A Tibetan Drokpa nomad twirls a huge prayer wheel along the route between Choni and Xincheng. 'Drokpa' means 'high pasture people', and the people are still found today across the Tibetan plateau, where they move with yak herds from pastureland to pastureland, subsisting off the animal and living in tents or seasonal huts.

A National Geographic expedition team pose for a photograph at the base of a snowy mountain in Sichuan Province, China.