Liu Heung Shing

Mihail Gorbachev throws down his speech following a televised broadcast to the nation from the Kremlin in which he announced his resignation from the post of General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party. Moscow, 1991

Mikhail Gorbachev addresses delegates of the twenty-eighth (and last) Communist Party Congress, 1991

Soviet shoppers stand to chat surrounded by row upon row of empty shelves in a Moscow supermarket, 1991

Departing for duty in the Soviet army, a newly-inducted Estonian soldier kisses his girlfriend farewell, 1991

Supporters of Boris Yeltsin surge through Moscow's Manezh Square celebrating the landslide victory of their candidate as President of Russia, 1991

"Throw out the rascals!" housewives in front of the Kremlin accuse the Communist Party of corruption, 1991

Local people walk past streets in the aftermath of chaos in Moscow. The coup against Gorbachev had failed, leaving debris spread on streets leading to the Russian Federation building following an attempt to block government troops from attacking the..., 1991

Visiting jazz musicians - the music professor Willie Ruff and professional pianist Dwight Mitchell from the USA - hold an impromptu jazz session in a dormitory of Central Conservatory of Music. Beijing, 1981

Newly-weds pose for a studio photo. In order to save money the woman has rented only the top half of a Western-style wedding dress. Beijing, 1980

Man and Motorbike; A young man leans on his shiny imported motorcycle, a novelty form of transportation in 1982, as an elderly woman sits atop a marble bench doing her needlework and apparently oblivious to the change taking place around her..., 1982

Students in the oil painting department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing return to traditional practices, which include painting from life in the studio. Here from a life model, in a class led by painter Yuan Yunsheng (centre). Beijing, 1981

Peasants at Evergreen Commune toss cabbages – the only vegetable available to Northern Chinese in winter – onto a slow-moving truck. Beijing, 1980

Wang Keping, a former Red Guard and, here co-leader of the Stars Painting Group – the first widely-known independent group of artists to come to public attention in the post-Mao period – heads a demonstration to call for artistic freedom..., 1979

An old man turns a remonstrative eye on a young couple on a park bench in the People's Park. Shanghai, 1978

School children denounce the Gang of Four, following the arrest of its members in October 1976. The Gang of Four was a clique comprised of Mao's wife, Jiang Qing, together with Yao Wenyuan, Wang Hongwen and Zhang Chunqiao..., 1977

Young people skating. Shanghai, 1980

In post-Mao China, as the people began to return to normal life, they also began to allow personal emotions to be revived. Photograph taken in Beijing Zoo. Beijing, 1979

Cadres Study Period during the national congress held to mark the centenary of the death of Karl Marx. The study group, whether for senior officials or workers and peasants, has become a way for China..., 1983

A student skates past a statue of Chairman Mao. Dalian Institute of Technology, Liaoning Province, 1981

Construction workers take a break outside the Museum of Chinese History in Tiananmen Square. They are in the process of taking down the huge portrait of Mao seen in the scaffolding behind them..., 1981