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Family album charts accomplishments 

By Mark Hughes (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-06-01 12:02

China's 'family album' charts the course of a nation's extraordinary accomplishments from ordinary beginnings over a remarkably short period.

A young boy stares in rapt concentration as an electrician installs his rural family's first electric light bulb just 100 km from the heart of Beijing. The poignant photograph was taken by Han Xuezhang in 1956 in what is now the Fangshan district of the capital.

The scene marked the first visible benefits of the construction of a small hydro-electric station nearby that heralded the end of a long era during which the hours of darkness were lit up with oil lamps.

Now the area is ablaze with neon lights and the countryside has been largely concreted over.

The picture is one of hundreds assembled by China Daily in a book commemorating the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China.

Since the memorable date of Oct 1, 1949, extraordinary changes have been wrought in this, the most populous and diverse nation on planet Earth.

Many historic events recorded on celluloid throughout the country present a visual and vivid history of a dynamic people pulling together, often in adversity but also often with an optimistic or celebratory smile, to make life better for the next generation.

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