China then and now

Cyclists in China Photograph: Nobby Clark/Getty Images

Cars on display at the China Auto Show in Beijing Photograph: Dan Chung/Guardian

Elementary students in a classroom with their teacher at the Children's Palace school in Shanghai Photograph: Cornelis Verwaal/Getty

Students use computers to learn about giant pandas at Shawan primary school in Sichuan province Photograph: China Photos/Getty Images

A crowded apartment building with clotheslines in Hong Kong Photograph: Marvin Koner/Corbis

This general view shows the International Financial Centre 2 building looming over Hong Kong. The IFC complex contains serviced apartments, a luxury shopping mall and a cinema Photograph: Laurent Fievet/AFP

A street market in Beijing Photograph: Nobby Clark/Getty Images

A Tesco supermarket in Beijing Photograph: Dan Chung/Guardian

Children outside a house in Beijing Photograph: Nobby Clark/Getty Images

Children eating ice cream in Pingyao. The government has for many years enforced a one child per family policy in an attempt to kerb population growth Photograph: Dan Chung/Guardian

People stand in line at a state department store in Shanghai selling clothes ranging from a Mao vest to a three-piece suit Photograph: Alain Nogues/Corbis

Lane Crawford shopping mall in Beijing Photograph: Dan Chung/Guardian

Metal workers take their lunch break in a factory cafeteria Photograph: Alain Nogues/Corbis

Workers soldering circuit boards on a production line at a toy factory in Shantou, Guangdong province Photograph: AFP/Getty

An acupuncturist on the streets of the old city of Shanghai Photograph: Marie Mathelin/Roger Viollet/Getty Images

Nurses treat a baby as his mother looks on at a hospital in Hefei, Anhui province Photograph: AFP/Getty

People read news on wall posters along a main street in Beijing. Some of the posters suggest peaceful unification of Taiwan with the People's Republic of China; others tell the story of resumption of diplomatic relations between China and the US Photograph: Bettmann/CORBIS

People view TV screens showing the latest news. Chinese President Hu Jintao delivering a speech during opening ceremony of the 17th Communist Party of China National Congress Photograph: China Photos/Getty Images

A woman carries her toddler in a baby sack and the family's food shopping balanced on a shoulder yoke Photograph: Carl Mydans/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

A woman shops in the French-owned supermaket Carrefour at Zhongguancun in Beijing Photograph: Dan Chung/Guardian