Basket.

Forty-five years ago today, Mao Zedong, fresh from victory over the Kuomintang in China's ruinous civil war, declared the formation of the People's Republic of China in Tiananmen Square, Beijing. It was a momentuous occasion. After nearly forty years of almost-continuous internal warfare and unrest, China was united under one central authority once more. The sleeping dragon, many said, was awake once more and ready to singe the world with its breath.

It was not to be, as Communist China retreated into its shell and remained there for the next three decades. By the time the Great Helmsman died in 1976, the PRC was in a parlous state of near-collapse. It was left to Communist China's third paramount leader, Deng Xiaoping, to push one of the world's oldest continuous civilizations on the road to finally fulfilling some of its vast potential.

Things are quite a bit less interesting in the real and present. Well, enjoy the interlude while one can, boring as it is.