”National Geographic`s” new book ”Inside China”, tells that story with the best pictures ever taken of China, both past and present. Exotic China has always attracted great photographers -and China`s history has yielded unforgettble images. ”Inside China” brings you historic photographs you haven`t seen before: Photographic luminaries such as Henri Cartier-Bresson (who photographed Beijing and Shanghai in the 1940s) and Margaret Bourke-White (photographing Chiang Kai-Shek) portray the old China and the ascendancy of Chairman Mao; photographs by Chinese news photographer Li Zhensheng cover the Cultural Revolution to give startling new insights into this harsh mysterious era.Today`s China, filled with excitement and fraught with challenge, is vividly shown by contemporary photographers such as Mark Leong, Paolo Pellegrin, and Mark Henley, who, with privileged access, present China`s fashionable youth and glamour, the development of breathtaking mega-industry, and new materialism alongside traditional religion and rural life, revealing the rapidly changing scene in China in all its complexity.Like the contributing photographers, the contributing writers are all world-famous experts on China, with extensive knowledge of China today and its recent history.Inside China is organised thematically into five chapters: Geography - the introductory chapter presents a sweeping portrait of the vast country`s diverse landscape and geography - a thrilling journey across time zones, climatic regions, mountains, deserts, and urban and rural vistas; History - the introduction to China`s geography is followed by an intriguing glimpse into China`s history, with archival photographs that recall pivotal moments in the country`s fascinating and tumultuous past; Tradition - the next chapter looks at the traditional China, where traditional cultural habits and religions still endure in the face of jolting change; and Economic emergence - the theme of the next chapter is China`s emergence as an economic superpower, with a look at the factories, industry, production and work ethic that have spawned huge mega-cities and industrial pollution.It also includes Modernization - the final chapter takes an up-close look at the country`s modernization with all the exhilaration and upheaval it has generated, as seen in the clash between rural and urban, peasant and middle-class, young and old, rich and poor.