A Day in the Life of China

Since the early days of the Han dynasty, when Roman traders first ventured forth on the Silk Road across the High Pamirs, China has fascinated the Western World. China. The name itself evokes images of bat-winged fishing junks, temples thick with incense and broad avenues packed with bicycles. Inspired by these and other romantic visions of exotic Cathay, 90 of the world's leading photojournalists fanned out across China on April 15, 1989. Their assignment: to capture the elite of the country on film in a single 24-hour period - to make extraordinary pictures of ordinary events. 

In fact, April 15 turned out to be far from ordinary. The photographers found a country caught up in a whirlwind of economic, social and political change. Bucolic temples now sat in Special Economic Zones bustling wth commericial activity. Stonewashed Levi's and designer fashions had replaced the once ubiquitous Mao suit. Students, exposed to outside ideas and influences were openly questioning the government. That very evening, the student democracy movement emerged. Within weeks the nation would be plunged into turmoil. A Day in the Life of China, a photographic adventure across a vast and ancient country, inadvertently became a visual time capsule of a nation at the crossroads.