"It happened so quickly and quietly that the world barely noticed: China has foregone the trappings of communism and is forging ahead to reinvent itself as a major economic and political power. This 4 part documentary chronicles the transformation currently sweeping over China, from its initiation by Deng Xiaoping, to the economic, social, and cultural realities of today's China. The government's 1992 announcement that it would re-make the vast nation as a 'social market economy' has stirred reactions throughout the country and the world. A fervor has spread that will forever alter Chinese social and cultural traditions. China is now a nation of enormous contrasts--amidst intense excitement about entrepreneurial ventures and new wealth, grave concerns are emerging about loss of tradition, rising social problems, and cultural decline. The old rules have been thrown out in a last gesture by Deng, the ailing strongman, and the Chinese have responded with a tidal wave of money-making enterprises and power plays. With extraordinary access to government officials, historical documents and the people of China, this revealing program ventures behind the barriers that have shielded China from the western world. There, at the epicenter of a metamorphosis that has already resulted in far-reaching consequences, CHINA: UNLEASHING THE DRAGON discovers the new, powerful--and volatile--forces that are transforming China.

Episode I, Deng's Legacy: Examines Deng's role in shaping the reformed China.