Word: guangzhou
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...guess the main reason I was surprised that the demonstrators rubbed the leaders' noses in it," says a professor of Chinese literature in Guangzhou, "is that their actions were so uncharacteristic of the way in which most smart Chinese operate. The emperors and their policies change rapidly in China. As the old proverb says, 'In the morning, welcomed as the guest of a high official; in the evening, held as a prisoner under the steps.' To survive in China, you must keep your head down and be ready to change your allegiances and enthusiasms quickly -- or at least appear...
...walk in Guangzhou, the professor notices an old woman with a broom made of twigs and straw methodically sweeping dirt from one side of the street to the other. "You see that?" he says. "That's what it is all about. Is the street really clean? Of course not. But she is making it look clean, right? That's the important thing in China. Everything here is appearance. Everything here is pretend...
...visit two schools, one near Guangzhou, the other in Beijing. At both places, two teachers handle a class of approximately 40 four-year-olds. Instructive slogans adorn the walls: THE NAIL THAT STICKS OUT GETS HAMMERED DOWN and THE LONG POLE GETS SAWED OFF. Creativity, experimentation, even simple play are discouraged. Handed blocks, the children erect structures pictured in workbooks; once completed, the buildings are torn down and put up again and again until the time allotted for block-building expires. And "No talking, while you're building," a teacher scolds. Or while you're eating, for that matter...
...from the Lun Feng factory, on the main road to Guangzhou, is an example of how economic freedom can energize a population. Shops full of sofas, chairs and beds stretch as far as the eye can see. "Furniture Mile" began several years ago when a few local farmers decided that after meeting their government-mandated crop quotas, they would rather augment their income by making furniture than by growing more vegetables. Soon, farmers throughout the area followed suit. Today anyone with wheels stops to load as much furniture as he can carry, then resells his wares later in whatever market...
...Some of the world's foremost photographers capture 24 hours of the world's oldest living civilization, from a fleeting kiss in a Guangzhou restaurant to timeless landscapes in distant provinces to the beginning of the student protests against the government. TIME presents 27 pages of photographs from a forthcoming book that chronicles what turned out to be a portentous day. Following the portfolio, special correspondent Michael Kramer delves into the soul of post-Tiananmen China and wonders if, like captive birds, the Chinese can learn to fly and sing in their giant cage...