Nations. Still, for three decades under Mao, China tried to break out of its backwardness and isolation but only met modest success. Mao died in 1976 and his remains are kept in a mausoleum in Tiananmen Square. Take an audiovisual tour of Mao's hometown Soon enough, Deng Xiaoping emerged as the new paramount leader. Deng overturned most of Mao's policies and embarked upon reforming the economy and opening up the country to the outside world. His quest for stability and prosperity took off in the early 1990s, propelled by his pragmatic policies to entice foreign investments and build China's private sector. Just south of Tiananmen, one landmark stands as a symbol of Deng's bold open-door policy. In the early 1980s, the first Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet opened in Beijing, just a stone's throw away from Mao's mausoleum. Today, the fast food chain still does brisk business, with a large portrait of founder Colonel Sanders hanging on the three-story building. Not every Chinese embraced Deng's reform and open-door policy. Old Guards and conservatives in and outside the communist party accepted Deng's reform policies, but with a great deal of misgiving. The backlash came to a boil in 1989, when Tiananmen witnessed an outpouring of support for the students who called for freedom and democracy, and more reform. After six weeks of heady demonstrations, the Tiananmen movement was