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40 years on: Photos show China now and then
Updated: 2018-11-20 10:25:25
( chinadaily.com.cn )

An exhibition celebrating the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up was held on Saturday, reflecting the changes over the past 40 years through photos taken by Chinese and foreign photographers.

Referring to a series of photographs taken by five foreign photographers in about 1978, photos taken at the same sites reflecting similar scenes are collected nationwide to show the 40 years' changes in a more intuitive way.

Let's take a look at these changes through the following photos.

People gather at the bus station on the central avenue in Guangzhou city, South China's Guangdong province, May 4, 1976. [Photo by Adriano Madaro/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The Zhongshansi Road bus station is seen in Guangzhou city, South China's Guangdong province, Sept 7, 2018. The road today is twice as wide as the old one 40 years ago.[Photo by Yu Yuesheng/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A view from a window at Beijing Minzu Hotel, shows few high-rise buildings in 1979. [Photo by Adriano Madaro/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The view today from a window at Beijing Minzu Hotel on Chang'an Avenue is dramatically different, Sept 22, 2018. [Photo by Kang Tianpeng/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The banks of the Huangpu River in Shanghai are fairly undeveloped, seen from a window at the Fairmont Peace Hotel in the spring of 1979. [Photo by Adriano Madaro/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Skyscrapers rise above the Huangpu River, as seen from the rooftop of the Fairmont Peace Hotel, Aug 19, 2018. [Photo by Zhu Yaozhong/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A woman pushes a child in a cart in Beijing, 1979. [Photo by Adriano Madaro/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A child rides a bike and a woman walks two dogs on Damochang Hutong in Qianmen, Beijing, Sept 9, 2018. [Photo by Wu Bo/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Students wait for a school bus in Beijing, 1979. [Photo by Adriano Madaro/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Students peer at their mobile phones while waiting to cross the road at Dongdaqiao in Beijing's Chaoyang district, Sept 18, 2018. [Photo by Wu Hong/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A street stall is set up in downtown Kaifeng city, Central China's Henan province, in the 1980s. [Photo by Adriano Madaro/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The former street stalls on Sihou Street in Kaifeng city, Central China's Henan province, are replaced with a commercial plaza, Sept 26, 2018. [Photo by Zhang Zhiguo/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Bicycles are used to help move house in Yangzhou city in East China's Jiangsu province in the 1980s. [Photo by Adriano Madaro/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A man carries a refrigerator in a three-wheeled scooter on Guoqing Road, Yangzhou city, East China's Jiangsu province, Sept 22, 2018. [Photo by Zhang Qiqin/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Two men play chess on a bench in Shanghai, 1971. [Photo by Marc Riboud/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

An elderly man plays chess online in Huzhou city, East China's Zhejiang province, May 25, 2014. [Photo by He Xunyi/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

An old fashioned sailboat is seen on the Huangpu River in Shanghai, 1980. [Photo by Bruno Barbey/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A cruise ship makes its way past the modern skyline on the Huangpu River in Shanghai, Aug 14, 2018. [Photo by Qin Zhiyuan/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A woman gets a perm in Shanghai, 1980. [Photo by Bruno Barbey/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Women get their hair done in a modern hair salon in Shanghai, April 28, 2018. [Photo by Zhou Min/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Workers are seen at a factory in Datong city, North China's Shanxi province, 1973. [Photo by Bruno Barbey/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Workers pose for a group photo in the workshop of a cable production company in Suzhou city, East China's Jiangsu province, July 31, 2018. [Photo by Tian Ming/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

People in Shanghai line up to purchase food, in July of 1980. [Photo by Bruno Barbey/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

People line up in front of the cured meat shop of a time-honored brand in Liwan district of Guangzhou city in South China's Guangdong province, July 31, 2018. [Photo by Situ Zhiwen/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Newlyweds pose for simple wedding photos in Shanghai, in August 1980. [Photo by Bruno Barbey/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Newlyweds pose for elaborate wedding photos at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, Sept 18, 2015. [Photo by Li Jun/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A woman buys an ice pop from a vendor in June 1973. [Photo by Bruno Barbey/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A child buys ice cream using WeChat Pay at a shopping mall in Tianjin municipality, May 27, 2018. [Photo by Du Shuangyun/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The interior of a bookstore is crammed with posters and books in August 1973. [Photo by Bruno Barbey/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The interior of the fashionable Zhongshuge bookstore in Shanghai's Xuhui district is sleek and sophisticated, Sept 23, 2018. [Photo by Zheng Yuanran/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Four friends walk to the bank of the Changshou River in Chongqing in 1980. [Photo by Bruno Barbey/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Four childhood friends take a photo years later at the riverside of the Changshou River in Chongqing, April 27, 2018. [Photo by Zhuo Jianlin/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A Shanghai Brand car drives on Chang'an Avenue in Beijing, 1986. [Photo by Yann Layma/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A young man drives a roadster through the CBD area in Beijing, Aug 5, 2018. [Photo by Wu Bo/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A couple strolls through Tian'anmen Square in Beijing in 1986. [Photo by Yann Layma/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A couple walks through Tian'anmen Square in Beijing on July 21, 2018. [Photo by Wang Yan'gao/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

People use a telephone box by a road in Qianmen, Beijing, 1987. [Photo by Yann Layma/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A couple walks past a deserted telephone box while the man talks on a mobile phone in Qianmen, Beijing in 2018. [Photo by Li Fudong/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Two men watch a show on electrotechnics on a TV in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan province, in 1987. [Photo by Yann Layma/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A senior citizen watches a health education show on TV in Yanjiao, North China's Hebei province, Feb 5, 2015. [Photo by Kou Shangmin/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A train engineer looks out the window of his train in Datong city, of North China's Shanxi province, in 1988. [Photo by Yann Layma/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A train engineer peers out the door of the CRH5A high-speed train in Hunchun city, Northeast China's Jilin province, April 27, 2018. [Photo by Liu Shenku/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A television in a citizen's home sits in a place of honor, 1979.  [Photo by Eve Arnold/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A television years ago was a precious item. Television now is just a common home appliance, as seen in Huangpu district, Shanghai, Dec 23, 2012. [Photo by Wu Jianmin/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

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