Inside China

China’s emergence as an economic and cultural giant reigns as a key international story of our time. In an unprecedented visual tour de force, National Geographic chronicles this astonishing ascent through some of the most eye-opening, evocative, and extr

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Exotic China has always attracted great photographers, and its history has yielded unforgettable scenes. Inside China unveils fascinating archival images rarely made public: Luminaries Henri Cartier-Bresson and Marc Riboud portray the old order and the ascendancy of Chairman Mao; Chinese news photographer Li Zhensheng gives startling new insight into the harsh Cultural Revolution. Today’s China, filled with excitement and fraught with challenge, is captured by contemporary photographers including Mark Leong, Paolo Pellegrin, and Mark Henley—who, with privileged access, depict fashionable youth and glamour, the development of mega-industry, and new materialism alongside traditional religion and rural life, revealing the rapidly changing scene in all its complexity. Five renowned experts on China—Jonathan Spence, James Watt, James MacGregor, Elizabeth Economy, and Minxin Pei—narrate and enrich the story with informative, thought-provoking essays.