Democracy Wall, Beijing — 1979

A lifetime ago, I was fortunate enough to be part of a cultural exchange trip to China for a few weeks. It was 1979, and much of the country was just opening up to visitors from outside. When our group travelled through Beijing, it was months after the main activity at the “Democracy Wall,” but some sections of it were still in active use as a community discussion board:

Democracy Wall, Beijing -- 1979

I’d forgotten about this slide (taken with my trusty old OM-1, recently scanned), but current events in Egypt reminded me that I’d never done anything public with this image.

I have to suspect that authorities in China are being very careful w.r.t. how they handle news of the events in Cairo.

Update: turns out, they are

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