Chinese history
Listen to and download our programmes below
Ai Weiwei: Imprisoned for art
In 2011, the Chinese artist was detained for 81 days
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English TV lessons in China go primetime
An estimated 500 million people in China watched English lessons on television in 1981
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Pinyin: The man who helped China to read and write
In 1958, Zhou Youguang introduced a new writing system in China
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Surviving re-education in China’s Cultural Revolution
Thousands of people were sent to re-education camps during China’s cultural revolution
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Wham! in China
How Wham! became the first Western pop act to perform in communist China
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The 'comfort women' of World War Two
Hundreds of thousands of Asian women were forced into sex slavery in the 1930s and 1940s
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Unearthing the Terracotta Army
Discovered by chance by farmers digging a well, the secrets of the Qin Dynasty in China.
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Wang Jingwei: China’s traitor or protector?
The national hero was branded a traitor for collaborating with Japan during World War Two
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Leaving China to study after the Cultural Revolution
We hear from one of the first students to study overseas after the Cultural Revolution
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Fighting for Uyghur rights in China
A first-hand account of taking on the Chinese Communist Party in the 1980s
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Chairman Mao's Little Red Book
The collected thoughts of China's communist leader that became an unexpected best-seller
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Chiang Kai Shek: The Man Who Lost China
The Chinese civil war remembered by the Nationalist leader's former chief aide.
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My memories of Chairman Mao
China's legendary Communist leader in the words of an American who knew him well
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The Great Famine in China
When Mao Zedong tried to force an industrial revolution in China millions starved to death
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Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution
A former communist Red Guard recalls his role in China's Cultural Revolution.
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China's Barefoot Doctors
How China's barefoot doctor scheme revolutionised rural healthcare.
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Beethoven's role in China's Cultural Revolution
Chairman Mao banned all classical music in 1966, but some musicians defied the order.
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The Exam That Changed China
The return of university entrance exams showed the Cultural Revolution had really ended.
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Being a Chinese Muslim
It has never been easy to practice a religious faith in communist China
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China's breakthrough malaria cure
Chinese scientists used ancient traditional medicine to find a cure for malaria.
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Shenzhen - Special Economic Zone
In May 1980 Communist China allowed capitalist activity for the first time.
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China's One Child policy
The Chinese Communist Party started ruthlessly enforcing birth control in the early 1980s
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Walking the Great Wall of China
Three friends set off on an epic trek along the Great Wall of China in May 1984
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Tiananmen Square escape
Dan Wang was the most wanted student leader after the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989.
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