Chinese Father Documents Life With Son Every Year of His Life for 3 Decades

From the outside, China seems like a country whose government has complete control over everything, making executive decisions at the expense of its own people. Because of all the stories and breaking news we get in America about political unrest and other issues, it's easy to forget that people still live average lives, day-to-day. In this touching series of photos, you will see how one man and his son have done exactly that in the midst of happenings in China and the rest of the world.

It All Started In 1986

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Tian Jun was 27 years old when his son, Tian Li, was born in the Guizhou Province. Guizhou is located in a mountainous region of Southwestern China. It boasts some pretty amazing sites in nature, including the near 250-foot Huangguoshu Waterfall and the underground waterway system of the Dragon Palace Cave.

The year Li was born, a major political event was underway. The 1987 Student Demonstrations were taking place across the country on campuses. The movement was influenced by intellectuals like Wang Ruowang and Fang Lizhi who were critical of the government’s lack of reforms. The protests lasted about a month before dissipating.

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1987

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Tian Jun was an artist who had the idea to take a photo on his son's birthday every year in the same spot. According to his son, Li, the photos were taken in front of a wall outside of the apartment that he grew up in. Their family has resided there for 20 years.

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When Li was two years old, a massive wildfire called Black Dragon Fire swept across China and the Soviet Union. IT was one of the largest wildfires ever recorded, and it destroyed 18 million acres of forest including a sixth of China's timber reserves. It also had a devastating human cost: over 200 people died in the fire, and hundreds more suffered injuries.

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1988

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When asked by CNN why they were shirtless for all of the photos, Li explained that it was because he was born in the summer. Summer in the Guizhou province would get so hot that it was normal to go without a shirt a majority of the time. Because of this, they have decided to keep all the photos consistent with this motif. In 1988, the People’s Republic of China competed in the Summer Olympics that were held in Seoul, Korea. That year, they entered 273 competitors in 150 events and 25 sports. China’s athletes brought home five gold medals, 11 silver medals, and 12 bronze medals for a total of 28 medals.

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According to CNN Li, who did not think about what the photos meant when they were taken, retrospectively views the series as a form of performance art. He recognizes that people are attracted to stories of father-son bonding and coming-of-age, which is why these photos have become so popular. Though this sweet photo of Li and his father seems completely peaceful, there was a serious political event happening this year in China. Student led protests that were happening in Beijing were reaching a boiling point, and soon these protestors would find themselves up against an army in their fight for democracy.

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1989: Tiananmen Square

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Li was just three years old when the Tiananmen Square Protests happened in Beijing. The student-led demonstrations were sparked over anxieties about the uncertainty of the Chinese peoples' future in a time of dramatic economic and social change during the post-Mao era. Although Li was just a toddler, this event would set a precedent for the type of atmosphere he would grow up in, in his country.

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In what became known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, troops carrying assault rifles and driving tanks plunged into the crowds of protesters who were trying to block their advance. The civilian deaths from this horrifying incident are estimated between hundreds and thousands.

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1990

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Despite the political and social unrest, father and son maintained their ritual through subsequent years. Although the Guizhou province is not close to the Chinese capital (Beijing is more north-east of where the Tian family has settled), it doesn't mean that they weren't adversely affected by the aforementioned events, but they clearly didn't let these things get in the way of their happiness.

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1990 was a year of damage control for China. The international community was shocked by the major loss of life and the advancing of troops on unarmed civilians in Beijing. Leadership tried to restore the appearance of unity in the country.

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1991

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In his interview with CNN, Li has recounted the numerous occupations his father held while he was growing up. His father has done business in real estate, tourism, and farming before going back to art, teaching the subject at a local school. Clearly, this was his passion as can be interpreted from his idea to begin this photo series.

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In 1991, the People’s Republic of China and the then-Soviet Union set up the Sino-Soviet Border Agreement that was an attempt to resolve most of the border disputes between the two countries. Ultimately, changes to the border were made, to Taiwan doesn’t recognize the changes.

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1992

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When Li turned six, a lot of other events were happening in other parts of the world. In the United States, Bill Clinton was elected as the 42nd president and the Rodney King riots broke out in Los Angeles. In the Middle East, Afghanistan overthrew its communist government, while the U.N. Security Council imposed sanctions on Libya.

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Spain hosted the Summer Olympics, while France hosted them in the Winter. Back in China, McDonald's made its Chinese debut with its first restaurant in Beijing. China also reported that their economy grew 12% that year, which was in line with their rapid economic development.

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1993

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In 1993, Li turned seven, while his father was 34. The same year, a series of earthquakes wreaked havoc on neighboring Asian countries. Off the coast of Japan, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 hit, launching a tsunami that killed 200 people on the island of Okushiri, Hokkaido. Earthquakes also hit in the countries of India and Indonesia, killing 10,000 and 2,200 people, respectively.

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In April, China Eastern Airlines Flight 583 crashed, and in June Typhoon Koryn hit China, leaving 37 people dead. The typhoon also caused $14 million in damages across the Philippines, the Caroline Islands, and the People’s Republic of China.

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1994

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This is Li and his father at ages eight and 35. In 2015, Li posted the photos to Chinese social media site WeChat and the series circulated quickly, generating 100,000 clicks in 24 hours. The popularity of the post prompted interviews from various media outlets.

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When Li was eight years old, the Kenpeng mine disaster happened at the Guangxi Kenpeng mine. Eight tons of dynamite exploded, destroying a worker's dormitory and killing everyone inside. More than 230 people were injured in the blast, and the death toll reached 77 people. The explosion was caused by the mine not maintaining proper health and safety standards.

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1995

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In 1995, Li turned nine, while his father turned 36. This is the same year that Toy Story, the first computer-generated film, was released, in addition to JavaScript and Microsoft's Windows 95. In this year as well, more than 170 countries gathered in New York City to indefinitely extend the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

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1995 was also the ear the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis occurred. The crisis was caused by a series of missile tests conducted by the People’s Republic of China in the waters surrounding Taiwan. The tests were an attempt to send a signal to Taiwan’s government, which was seen as moving away from the One-China policy at the time.

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1996

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When Li was 10, the neighbor country of Japan had released popular gaming system Nintendo 64 at the same time that DVD's were launched. By this time as well, global warming was at a record high, as the Arctic Ozone layer continued to be depleted and a reported 38 million acres of the rain forest had already been destroyed.

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The same year in February, Lijiang earthquake hit Lijiang City in southwestern China and resulted in 13,000 injuries, 3,925 serious injuries, and 322 deaths. The shock measured 6.6 on the moment magnitude scale. Many high rise buildings were torn down as a result.

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1997

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By age 11, Li is visibly not the little boy we have seen in previous pictures. This would be the last photo in which he is being held by his father, who at this point was 38. This is the same year that Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule, after being under the United Kingdom. This transfer is often noted as the end of the British Empire.

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The same year in Ghulja, protests erupted after 30 Uyghur independence activists were executed. After two days of protests where the protesters shouted “independence for Xinjiang,” the demonstrators were attacked with gunfire. While official reports say the death toll was nine, dissident reports estimate the death toll at 100.

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1998

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The year that Li turned 12, Microsoft released Windows 98, while Apple unveiled the iMac. Titanic premiered in theaters, while Disney released a new Pixar installment, A Bug's Life, as well as Mulan, which brought the legendary tale of the Chinese heroine to light all across the world.

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1998 was also the year the Three Stresses campaign was launched. Three Stresses was an ideological campaign among Communist Party members. The stresses refer to: “stress study, stress politics, stress righteousness.” The goal was the rectify some of the common corruption in the Communist Party of China, an adapt to the global economy.

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1999

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At age 13, Li is now visibly a teenager in 1999. This is the same year that the U.S. bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. The U.S. has claimed the attack was an accident and that their intended target was actually the nearby Yugoslav Federal Directorate, but several Chinese officials believe that the attack was deliberate.

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The government issued a statement the same day as the bombing calling it a “barbarian act.” This sparked a series of anti-American protests in China, with protesters throwing rocks outside the United States embassy in Beijing. President Clinton profusely apologized, and gradually relations improved throughout the year.

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2000

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At the turn of the century, you will notice Li grow more into his teen years in subsequent photos. Here he is at age 14, with a straight face that could be considered resonant of a certain guardedness that is often attached to teen angst and coming-of-age.

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In January, the Yunnan earthquake in southwest China killed seven people and injured 2,528 people, as well as leveling 41,000 homes. There was also a devastating fire at a shopping center on Christmas in Luoyang that killed 309 people. The fire was triggered by sparks from welding at the building. Construction workers and Christmas shoppers were killed by the blaze.

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2001

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Here are father and son in 2001 at the start of the new millennium. Li turned 15 this year and you can see he wears the same look from the previous photo. His father, now 42 in this photo, wears a grin despite the attitude Li displays in his during his teen years in this photo series. This occurs throughout the next five years, as you will see in subsequent photos.

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2001 was an eventful year in China. Shenzhou 2, an unmanned spacecraft was launched, and the International Olympic Committee decided Beijing would host the 2008 summer games. That’s not all that happened.

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2002

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When Li turned 16, there were new advancements in space technology. In 2002, scientists reported findings of a new type of black hole with a middleweight class of gravitational sink. In this same year, China launched both Shenzhou 3 and Shenzhou 4 in a series of unmanned launches.

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While China was advancing technologically with their amazing space program, citizens were still prone to natural disasters. The Dongting Lake flooded and forced the evacuation of 6,000 people in Yeuyang. An Air China Boeing 767 also crashed into a hillside because of heavy rain and fog, and sadly 128 people were killed.

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2003

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By 2003, Li was just another 17-year-old in a world whose population reached 6.31 billion people. This is the same year that North Korea withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the U.S. and Britain launched a war against Iraq. Later that same year, the U.S. would declare an official end to combat operations in Iraq and they would also capture Saddam Hussein.

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The Bachu earthquake measured 6.3 in magnitude and killed at least 261 people, and injured 4,000 more. Nearly 10,000 homes were leveled by the earthquake. Those weren’t the only major events happening in China at the time.

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2004

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When he was 18, Li was accepted into the Beijing Film Academy, which was the biggest accomplishment in his life at that point, according to CNN. After his acceptance, he moved away from home to continue his studies and pursue a career as a director.

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In April 2004, Shanghai modified its interpretation of the One Child Policy, allowing divorced residents who remarried to have a second child without a penalty. Martial law was imposed in parts of China’s Henan province after fighting between Han and Hui ethnic groups. There were also two major coal mine explosions in China in 2004 with hundreds of fatalities.

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2005

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Although Li left home at 18, he and his father continued their tradition when Li would visit home during his breaks from school. Here they are, aged 19 and 46, respectively. This photo depicts another shift in their father-son relationship as it is the first photo since he was a boy that Li is facing his father, whereas Li had his back to his father in his teenage photos.

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The tension between Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China reached a head when the People’s Republic of China issued an anti-succession law in March that was aimed at preventing Taiwan from declaring independence. China was also facing tensions with Japan after a Japanese schoolbook glossed over Japan’s imperialist past, sending 20,000 people to protest in the streets.

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2006

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By age 20, Li has earned himself the title as a young adult. He and his father, who is 47 years old at this point, both wear slight grins. His father is probably proud of all that Li has accomplished thus far, while Li's body language begins to open up to his father again from this point in the series, forward.

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The same year Baidu.com, modeled on Wikipedia, was launched in China. The site is self-censored, since Wikipedia is inaccessible in China without using a proxy. More than 1.5 million people had to evacuate before Super Typhoon Saomai, the strongest to land in the country in 50 years, hit in Wenzhou.

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2007

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By age 21, Li had graduated film school with a degree in Film Directing, accomplishing his goals. This year, their picture was taken during the winter, which probably explains why they are wearing pants, as opposed to shorts in many of the previous photos in the series.

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The same year, a drought in southwestern China threatened the drinking supply of 1.5 million people, and China signed on and approved the "Washington Declaration" that proposed a global Carbon emissions trading system. Bird flu also spread throughout China, with two human cases of the virus confirmed that year. There was also a major pet food recall in the United States after several pet deaths from tainted food imported from China.

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2008

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Li turned 22 the same year that China was host to many cultural events. Since he was in the process of pursuing a career in film directing, he may have been interested in the second Asian Film Awards held in Hong Kong, or the 27th Hong Kong Film Awards, or even the 2008 Shanghai International Film Festival.

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Unfortunately, 2008 was also the year of the Sichuan earthquake, and over 70,000 people died in central south-west China as a result of the 7.9 magnitude quake. Just a few months later, China would recover to host the Olympics. During the games, media censorship was lifted.

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2009

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2009 would mark Jun's golden year when he turned 50 as Li turned 23. This is the same year that then-U.S. president Barack Obama announced China's participation in an agreement to combat global warming, which required wealthier nations to contribute billions of dollars to poorer countries that are more affected by the climate change.

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In January, strict keyword filters were introduced in China leading to mass protests online and in the streets against internet censorship. However, censorship would continue. In May, the Republic of China started allowing financial investment from the People's Republic of China for the first time since 1949.

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2010

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Li turned 24 when Google's servers have been hacked when someone tried to access information about Chinese dissidents. Because of the incident, Google expressed interest in removing themselves from China, since they no longer wanted to censor their searches in concordance with the Great Firewall. Words like “democracy” and “Tiananmen Square massacre” were being censored in searches.

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China continues to censor internet searches and politically sensitive Wikipedia entries. The censorship has caused problems with global trade, and has been condemned by democratic countries around the world. Even in 2017, Google is no longer allowed to operate in China because of the Great Firewall policies.

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2011

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In 2011, Li turns 25, while his father, Jun, turns 52. This same year China would experience another series of environmental disasters, as they began efforts to combat an on-going drought in the north, while the central and southern parts of China experiences a series of floods.

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These protests wouldn't stop in 2011, and would only increase intensity over the coming year, often becoming violent riots due to a militarized police presence. China also launched the unmanned flight of Shenzhou 8 on October 31. China docked the spacecraft, and only Russia, Japan, and the European Space Agency had achieved an automatic rendezvous docking before China.

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2012

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At 26 years old, Li told CNN that 2012 was the year he got married. In this picture you can see the way this relationship has matured. Li, now a married man, wears a slight grin and puts his arm around his 53-year-old father in a respectful and dignified manner.

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This can be contrasted with the way he holds onto his father as a child for support and guidance and the way in which he leans against his father as a teen. 2012 was a year of environmental protests in China. A number of factories found themselves in the crossfire for their practices.

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2013

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As another year passes, you can see the tables have turned as it is now 54-year-old Tian who is being held by his son Li, now 27 in this photo. Tian was 27 when he began this photo series, so the posing in this photo is quite fitting, depicting the way that children often become the support for their aging parents as the years go on.

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In March of 2013, Xi Jinping officially became the president of the People's Republic of China. He adopted "China Dream" as the country’s slogan. At the same time, China’s environmental crisis was getting worse, with thousands of pigs turning up dead in Shanghai’s Huangpu River.

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2015

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By 2015, Li and his wife returned to China with their son, Timothy, in tow. In the final heartwarming photo, Li holds his own son next to his father, who is now a grandfather. This is the perfect end to the series of photos that Li released, but we can only hope that their tradition lives on to this day.

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According to DailyMail, in an interview with People's Daily Online, Li has commented on what the photos represent, saying "This is the power of time. Time itself is a form of art. Perhaps this set of pictures represent a universal emotion and it's straightforward, so people would resonate. That's all."