People's Republic of China · 1978-2008

China opens up: from Deng to the 2008 Olympics

From 1978 Deng Xiaoping opened China to markets and the world. Fishing villages became megacities and hundreds of millions escaped poverty, while the party kept control, as the crackdown of June 1989 showed. Students follow China's rise on the map from Shenzhen to the Beijing Olympics.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
13–16
On the map
3 steps, AD 2000
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

From 1978 Deng Xiaoping opened China to markets and the world. Fishing villages became megacities and hundreds of millions escaped poverty, while the party kept control, as the crackdown of June 1989 showed. Students follow China's rise on the map from Shenzhen to the Beijing Olympics.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Explain what Deng Xiaoping changed in China after 1978.
  • Locate Shenzhen, Shanghai and Hong Kong and explain their role in China's growth.
  • Describe the protests of 1989 and explain why economic change did not bring political freedom.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 2000

The coast

Open the map in 2000 and find China's south-east coast, from Shanghai to Hong Kong. Turn on the Cities layer. Why did China's new wealth grow first along the coast?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 2000

Shenzhen

Zoom in on Shenzhen, just north of Hong Kong. In 1980 it was a town of about 30,000 people; by 2010 it had about 10 million. Ask the atlas: "What is a Special Economic Zone?"

Open this view on the map
c

AD 2000

Hong Kong returns

Find Hong Kong. Compare its color on the map in 1994 and 2000. Ask the atlas: "What happened to Hong Kong on 1 July 1997?"

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Deng said: "It doesn't matter whether a cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice." What did he mean?
  2. Farmers were allowed to sell part of their harvest; foreign companies could build factories. Why did these changes make China grow so fast?
  3. In the spring of 1989 students filled Tiananmen Square asking for less corruption and more freedom. On 4 June the army cleared the city with great loss of life. Why did the leaders choose force?
  4. In China the events of June 1989 cannot be discussed openly. Why would a government want to control memory?
  5. The 2008 Beijing Olympics showed a modern, confident China. What did the world admire, and what did critics point to?
4

Game round

10 min

Play one round of Rule History as Qin Shi Huang, who united China and ruled through strict law. Then compare: Deng Xiaoping opened the economy but kept the party in charge. Can a country be free in trade but not in politics?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.