Even after nearly two decades, Xiao Lu can recall vividly the New Year\’s Eve of 1989, when she drew worldwide attention.

Although she does not remember whether she was nervous or excited that morning, she is sure that the night before she was sleepless, \”thinking hard whether I should do it or not\”.

At dawn, the decision was made.

At about 11 am on Feb 5, 1989, Xiao met with her friend Li Songsong in the corridor outside the west wing of the National Gallery of Fine Arts (now called the National Art Museum of China).

\”You got the pistol?\” Xiao asked eagerly.

\”Yeah!\” Li replied, taking out the pistol. He eased its bolt and then handed it to Xiao.

\”Loaded with three bullets,\” said the young painter Li, who had sneaked out his revolutionary grandma\’s war trophy of the 1940s.

\”Okay,\” said Xiao, grabbing the pistol, her palm sweating and her face flushed.

The national gallery was packed with visitors. The first ever China/Avant-Garde Exhibition had just opened.

The works on display by 186 artists included paintings, installations, performance art, photographs and videos, challenging the conventional, Socialist Realism approach to art.

At the exhibition halls, an artist was touting prawns; another was sitting amid chicken eggs; and yet another was giving away condoms.

Some were crawling on their hands and feet on the open ground in front of the national gallery, which was covered with a black cloth with \”No U-turn\” traffic signs painted on it.

\”The atmosphere at the exhibition was weird but electrifying,\” Xiao recalled.

The pistol hidden in her pocket, Xiao took a deep breath and hurried into the First Exhibition Hall on the ground floor of the national gallery. http://www.pq365.com