1980s China. China as I remember it. (old B&W photos taken by my father)

Taken by more than just my father actually. Stumbling through my photobucket account I came across the China gallery of old 80s photos that I had uploaded some years ago. This is part of a long ongoing project to digitize all of my families photos (across several families). From the age of 2 to the age of 6 I lived in China not too long after it opened up to the west (well about 8 years after). My parents were there as English teachers. To say these years had a big impact on me couldn't be more of an understatement. Even though I was only 6 when I left the place had already left an indelible mark on me, and although my sharpest memories of Asia are from Malaysia it's China that really laid the groundwork for my love of Asia. These photos are from a rather poorly preserved set of negatives that I found among our photo collection. I used a negative scanner and photoshop to clean these up the best I could.

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Locut0s/library/80s%20China

They probably don't mean much to someone who didn't experience the time but I post them here anyway for those who are interested. Here are a few that stand out for me:



This small drink and snack stand stood at the entrance to the university my parents taught at. Notice the communist era one colour / style clothing everyone wore.



Bikes, pretty much the sole form of transportation in the country at the time. Cars were very rare and almost exclusively for government use.



The little kid being held up is me. The couple hugging on the left is my parents



Tai-Chi in the morning



You still saw horses being used at times in the streets



Another street scene



Old men resting

--------------------------------------

And of course to give some perspective. China now:



Less than 30 years later.