To many Westerners, photos of the past few decades in China are hard to come by.
As soon as international travel became more common, China was swept up in the Cultural Revolution starting in 1966. This movement kept the country somewhat isolated, until 1971 when travel restrictions slowly started to lift. By the mid-1970s, photographers and journalists from the West were documenting what they saw, and discovering that China looks great on film.
Here are some photographs of the People’s Republic during the grooviest decade.
1
Beijing, 1976
Photo by Adriano Madaro
2
The Forbidden City, 1978
Photo via Condé Nast Traveler
3
Beijing Railway Station, 1976
Photo by Adriano Madaro
4
Beijing, 1976
Photo by Adriano Madaro
5
Tai Chi in a private garden, 1976
Photo by Adriano Madaro
6
Beijing, 1976
Photo by Adriano Madaro
7
A boy in Beijing
Photo by Herbert Stachelberger, September 1978
8
Countryside of Beijing, 1975
Photo by Warren Duncan
9
Delivery Man in Guangdong
Photo by Herbert Stachelberger, September 1978
10
Australian News Correspondent Warren Duncan in Beijing, 1975
11
Ming Dynasty General Statue, Beijing
Photo by Herbert Stachelberger, September 1978
12
Temple of Heaven, Beijing, 1976
Photo by Adriano Madaro
13
Family Portrait Being Taken
Photo by Herbert Stachelberger, September 1978
14
Portraits of Lenin and Stalin in Beijing
Photo by Herbert Stachelberger, September 1978
15
Tiananmen Square, 1976
Photo by Adriano Madaro
16
A Group of Flight Attendants at Sichuan Southwest Vocational College of Civil Aviation
