Forty years ago Li Zhijun, who has taken more than 20,000 photos of the city since moving to Zhuhai in 1954, used his camera to capture the city on the onset of its becoming a Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

His rarely seen photographs of ever-changing Zhuhai are presented here, on the 40th anniversary year of the SEZ. Li, incidentally, was honored as Zhuhai's Cultural Figure of the Year in 2004.

1982 view from Macao showing Wanzai section of Zhuhai

Migrant factory workers show string curtain in the early 1980s

Officers at the intersection of Fenghuang and Chaoyang roads in Old Xiangzhou in the early 1980s

Plaques for the Standing Committee of the Zhuhai Municipal People's Congress and Zhuhai Municipal People's Government raised on Nov 30, 1980 

Haibin Beach in Jida in the early 1980s

Jiuzhou Port Supermarket in Jida, the first of its kind in Zhuhai to sell packaged foods and daily necessities imported from Hong Kong, taken in around 1982

Four-star Gongbei Hotel -- which could accept foreign guests -- under construction on South Shuiwan Road in 1984

Wanzai farmers await customs clearance before bringing flowers to Macao via the ferry in 1983 [Photos provided by Li Zhijun to WeChat account: zhuhaifabu]