A Day in the Life of China [Hardcover]

David Cohen (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Ninety photographers (60 Western, 30 Chinese) fanned out across China on a single day--April 15, 1989--to take the pictures that make up this rare, candid glimpse of the world's most populous nation. The photos show us villages and farms and take us into homes, schools and factories. From a kaleidoscope of images--rice-planting brigades, a defendant in the dock on trial for murder, yaks on Main Street in one city--we get a feel for the contradictions and pressures of a modernizing society. Many of the photos are exceptionally beautiful; taken together, they reveal the diversity of this vast country, moving from the tent-like yurts of Mongolian nomads to a Tantric Buddhist monastery in occupied Tibet. The photo-essay concludes with a glimpse of protest posters that went up at Beijing University as students began to occupy Tiananmen Square, a tragically ironic conclusion in light of events that followed. First serial to Time; author tour.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This sumptuous volume follows the format of the Day in the Life series: 90 photojournalists, in this case including Chinese, Japanese, and Americans, with support from the Chinese government and foreign businesses, spent the day of April 15, 1989 in all provinces and autonomous regions, as well as Tibet. They visited every corner--from prisons, fields, and discos, to schools, rivers, kitchens, and monasteries, catching gritty daily life as well as exotic beauty. Although it is hard to see in these 250 photographs signs of the turmoil to follow, they give as good a slice of China as is possible to fit between two covers.
- Charles W. Hayford, Northwestern Univ., Evanston, Ill.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 220 pages
• Publisher: Collins Pub San Francisco; First Edition edition (September 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0002153211
• ISBN-13: 978-0002153218
• Product Dimensions: 14.2 x 10.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #608,625 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Capturing the beauty of China, June 27, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: A Day in the Life of China (Hardcover)

This collection of photos taken of people and places across China gives you a glorious snapshot of the complexity and beauty of this country. This table top collection of photos captures the soul of the country and its people and gives you a chance to travel to a far away land without ever leaving your armchair.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a day in the life of china, November 13, 2004

By 

Helaine - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Day in the Life of China (Hardcover)

This book captures all the sights, sounds, and smells of China with these pictures. It is unbiased showing all sides of life in China. While paging through all the different cities and times of day I was taken back to the streets of China and the warm people in the cities I have had the privlege of visiting.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book to look at over and over, June 6, 2005

By 

A. Pfannkoch (New Hampshire, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Day in the Life of China (Hardcover)

This "coffee table" book literally sits on my coffee table. Every member of my family looks at it just about every day -- we are constantly showing each other the pictures. It shows an amazing variety of moments from an amazing country. It draws you in, and every time you look at it, you see and learn something new. I highly recommend this book. I am thrilled with it.