Our Past 30 Years

By staff reporter ZHOU LIN

Stories of Chinas Reform：

A Photographers Personal Experiences

Author： Liu Weibing

Paperback， 298 pages

Price： RMB 78

Foreign Languages Press

THIS year marks the 40th anniversary of Chinas reform and opening-up. We recommend to our readers Stories of Chinas Reform： A Photographers Personal Experiences， which was published five years ago. The author Liu Weibing， a reporter of Xinhua News Agency， hoped to show Chinas unique history with some of the pictures he took.

In the book， an account of historic events were recorded by Lius camera， such as Deng Xiaopings death in 1997， Hong Kongs return to China， the 1998 floods， former Premier Wen Jiabao personally looking into the issue of withholding migrant workers wages， negotiations of Chinas WTO entrance， and the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

In addition， other phenomena such as Chinas farewell to the food coupon， migrant work- ers seeking job opportunities in cities， the disappearing hutongs in Beijing， and other life scenes of ordinary people were shot and presented in the book， reflecting the earthshaking changes of the times and the process of Chinas reform and opening-up.

Liu Weibing is a member of the Chinese Writers Association， a member of the Chinese Photographers Association， and a visiting professor at the School of Journalism of the Beijing-based Renmin University of China. For many years Liu covered Chinas top leaders， documenting their activities through photos. His representative works include Premier Presses for Payment of Wages for Rural Woman and Xi Jinping Picks up Glasses for Foreign Guest. He is the author of In the Forefront of War， With Lien Chan on the Mainland， and A Retrospect of the Last Two Decades – A Xinhua Photographers Notes. He has also published a photo album titled Impression of the Japanese.

There are five chapters in his latest book， respectively “Stories in These Years，” “Changes in Urban and Rural Areas，” “Culture and Value Partita，” “China Is Closer to the World，” and “Experiencing Great Events.” The author has witnessed the changes firsthand， and narrates the stories with his own experience.

In “The Disappearing Hutongs in Memories，” Liu affectionately wrote that the hutongs highlight the tradition of old Beijing and is an essential element of new Beijing. If one day Beijings hutongs all disappeared， nobody would believe that Beijing is a city with more than 3，000 years of architectural history and over 850 years as Chinas capital.

Over the past 40 years， the biggest change in Beijing has been the citys landscape. Since the 1990s， Beijing developed so rapidly that many places can hardly be recognized by old Beijingers. Construction sites were seen everywhere， buildings were demolished and rebuilt； roads were paved and broadened. As skyscrapers were erected one after another like bamboo shoots after a spring rain， Beijing has become more and more modern， while the time-honored alleys are shrinking. Walking around Beijing nowadays， visitors can only discover a little hint of the old Beijing at the Imperial Palace， Temple of Heaven， and the Summer Palace.

Liu recalled that during the period from the 1970s to the 1990s， his four-member family lived in a flat house of a dozen square meters and then in a 30-square-meter apartment with no kitchen and no bathroom. It was common at the time that one hutong courtyard housed a dozen or even dozens of families.

However， when the hutongs were set to be demolished and renovated， old residents were unwilling to leave. An octogenarian told Liu， “I am used to living here and dont want to go anywhere else.” Staring at Lius camera， the elderly womans eyes were filled with tears. Most people who now reside in multi-story buildings still miss the good old days in their courtyard houses.

Talking about the creation of the book， Liu said， “Without reform and opening-up， nobody knows where the country should go and what we are doing now.” Having lived through and witnessed this period of transformation， Liu said he was filled with awe and gratitude. As a reporter and photographer， he felt obliged to leave behind some valuable records of this piece of history in words and pictures for younger generations and the world.

Liu also invited 30 friends from all walks of life to share their stories from the past 30 years in his book. Li Zhaoxing， Chinas foreign minister from 2003 to 2007 and currently president of the China Association of Public Diplomacy， wrote in the preface， “The book is so dear to me – and also so new to me even though I am familiar with many events cited in it. Basing himself on a wealth of experiences he has acquired through work as a photographer at Xinhua， Weibing has written candidly to provide a true-to-life account of those epic changes that have taken place in China over the past three decades. The book throws light on the road we have followed and helps us in our understanding of the path we are to follow. It makes us proud of the progress we have made while alerting us to the need not to become self-complacent， so that well be more resolved and confident in our march toward the future.”

Editor-in-chief of Xinhua News Agency He Ping also wrote for the books preface， “Great changes are the key words to describe these times， particularly the 30-plus years of Chinas reform and opening to the outside world. Here is what Liu Weibing， a colleague of mine at Xinhua， presents to us： the historic era of earth-shaking changes in China. Memorable journalistic works， whether in writing or in the form of photos， are invariably those that not only tell people what has happened but also what they can learn from it.”