Louisa Lim

Chinese President Jiang Zemin sings a selection from "Beijing Opera" on the last day of an eight-day visit to the U.S. on Nov. 2, 1997, in Los Angeles.

China's ex-leader Jiang Zemin, an influential reformer, has died at 96

Jiang Zemin rose to power in the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square protests and leaves a legacy of economic reforms — but also tight political control.

Daryl James was just 15-years-old when he arrived at the Army Apprentice School in the 1970s. He says he was repeatedly abused, as were many others. Now he returns every year just to confirm that the school is still gone. "The ghosts have gone now, " he told NPR.

In Australia, Decades Of Abuse Against Military Recruits Comes To Light

Louisa Lim

A commission is investigating complaints by military academy students who say systematic sexual abuse was inflicted on new recruits dating back to the 1970s.

Civilians hold rocks as they stand on a government armored vehicle near Chang'an Boulevard in Beijing, early June 4, 1989, before the army began a crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in and around Tiananmen Square.

June 4: The Day That Defines, And Still Haunts China

Louisa Lim

Suppressing its own people with tanks and guns 25 years ago was a pivotal act of modern China. Beijing hoped economic prosperity would make people forget. But the legacy of Tiananmen remains potent.

Artist and former soldier Chen Guang stands with one of his paintings last year that depicts the scene when he helped clear Tiananmen Square as a soldier.

For One Soldier At Tiananmen, A Day 'Never Forgotten'

Louisa Lim

Chen Guang is now an artist, and since early May, he has been held in police detention after staging a performance that was a comment on attempts to expunge the Tiananmen Square massacre from history.

A Chinese man who became known as "Tank Man" stands alone to block a line of tanks heading east on Beijing's Changan Avenue just outside Tiananmen Square on June 5, 1989. It's an iconic image known around the world -- except in China.

For Many Of China's Youth, June 4 May As Well Be Just Another Day

Louisa Lim

Students were the driving force behind the 1989 pro-democracy protests in Beijing. China's youth now have other worries, the events of 25 years ago forgotten and buried by time and the government.

25 Years On, Mothers Of Tiananmen Square Dead Seek Answers

Louisa Lim

A bullet to the head killed Zhang Xianling's son near Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989. Since then, she has led a group demanding the truth and accountability for those deaths.

The world media captured the 1989 protests and crackdown in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. But across China, similar protests were taking place. Students in the southwest city of Chengdu began their own hunger strike in Tianfu Square several days after their Beijing counterparts. The photographer of this image — and several below — asked not to be identified because of current ties with China.

After 25 Years Of Amnesia, Remembering A Forgotten Tiananmen

Louisa Lim

The bloody 1989 crackdown in Beijing changed China, NPR's Louisa Lim explains in a new book. She also chronicles the brutal repression that took place in another city — and remained hidden until now.

Hu Xinglian is a professional mourner in the southwestern city of Chongqing, China. Known professionally as Dingding Mao, she is paid for her talents at singing the funeral dirge, a tradition that began in the Han dynasty 2,000 years ago. As she sings during a recent funeral, another member of her troupe joins her for a duet.

Belly Dancing For The Dead: A Day With China's Top Mourner

Louisa Lim

Banned during the Cultural Revolution, China's ancient funeral practices are re-emerging — but with new twists. One of China's most famous professional mourners creates modern funerals with Chinese characteristics — burning paper money, wailing and prostrating, karaoke eulogies and strobe lights.

The children of wealthy Chinese attend classes designed to teach them how to do things like raise money for charity. The parents pay up to $10,000 a year to send their kids to weekend classes.

Children Of China's Wealthy Learn Expensive Lessons

Louisa Lim

Some super-rich Chinese are sending their kids to weekend classes in order to learn how to deal with money. The lessons include things like a charity sale designed to teach the children compassion, sharing and the value of money.

Chinese Police Clamp Down On Protesters After Worker's Death

David Greene, Louisa Lim

Hundreds of police were deployed in southern Beijing Wednesday to quell a large protest after a migrant worker fell to her death at a clothing mall. Police say it was suicide, but there are reports the woman was gang-raped by security guards. Her family is asking for a proper investigation.