BEIJING, Aug. 12 (Xinhuanet) -- A
30-year bodyguard of Deng Xiaoping on Thursday published a photo album
focusing on the casual side of Deng Xiaoping (1904-1997) to mark the 100th
anniversary of the birth of the late Chinese leader.
The album, with a collection of 288
selected pictures from over 4000, shows the less known casual side of Deng
from 1978 to 1997. Many of these photos are made public for the first
time.
The author, Zhang Baozhong, became
Deng's bodyguard in 1954 when he was 20 years old. He spent most of his
time at Deng's side except for the several years when Deng was out of his
power.
In 1978, Zhang got his first camera,
which was sent by Deng's wife as a gift, and he began taking photos of
Deng.
The album includes two parts, one
shows Deng's inspection tours outside Beijing, while the other portrays
his home life as friend, husband, father and grandfather. Besides
well-known pictures of swimming and writing, readers can find vivid
pictures of Deng's playing cards with his friends and doing physical
exercises.
"Thanks to Deng's cooperation, I had
many exclusive chances to record his casual life," said Zhang. But he
still felt regret that he could not take pictures of Deng at many historic
occasions, as he was performing his more important job as Deng's
bodyguard.
"Although he has been gone for more
than seven years, sometime she still appears in my dreams," Zhang said,
adding that Deng had become his special relative occupying a permanent
place in his heart.
Aug. 22 in 2004 is Deng's 100th birth
anniversary, and lots of activities have been scheduled to commemorate the
Chief Architect of China's reform.
