" CHINA ON THE MARCH " 1959 COMMUNIST / PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA DOCUMENTARY PART 1 XD26345

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Part 2:    • " CHINA ON THE MARCH "  1959 COMMUNIS...  

“China on the March” (c.1959) is a black-and-white travelogue-style film written and narrated by Indian journalist Enakshi Bhavnani and produced by her husband Mohan Bhavnani. The 130-minute film documents the 12,000-mile journey the Bhavanis took with two cameramen across China at the invitation of the China-Indian Friendship Association.The film emphasizes the various modernizing and industrial advancements in each city during the years of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) economic and social campaign called “The Great Leap Forward” (1958-1962) which sought to reconstruct the country from an agrarian economy to an industrial one. This particular installment shows the first 45 minutes of the film, featuring footage of China’s capital city Peking (today Beijing) during the late 1950s.

Film opens, documentation by India’s Central Board of Film Censors (0:06). Title page (0:17). Opening credits, orchestra plays Chinese string instruments (Erhu, Yangqin, Pipa) (0:36). The Bhavnanis and two cameramen (1:07). Map of Southeast, East Asia showing journey from India to China (1:34). Skyline of Canton (Guangzhou), Pearl River (1:55). Yuyin Garden (2:13). Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Memorial Hall (2:32). New real estate development funded by Chinese workers overseas (2:34). Views of rural China from train traveling Canton to Peking (2:52). Beijing Railway Station (3:50). Modern hotels: Peking Hotel, Beijing Friendship Hotel (3:54). Panoramic view of Peking, Forbidden City (4:12). Infrastructure: Skoda 706 RO autobus drives on wide streets, the Telegraph Building, Peking Broadcasting Building, Beijing Planetarium (4:36). Tiananmen Square: Gate of Heavenly Peace, Monument to the People's Heroes (5:18). “Taiwan Day:” Protestors gathered in Tiananmen Square, ovation for Premier Zhou Enlai (6:03). Zhengyangmen “Victory Gateway Tower” (6:52). Wangfujing Street shopping area (6:58). Beijing Department Store (7:19). Summer Palace: Boat of Purity and Ease “marble boat,” Pei-Hai lake, Nine Dragon Screen (7:40). Liu Shiming’s “Cutting Through Mountains to Bring in Water” sculpture (8:55). Peking Opera performance of battle between two generals (9:14). Embassy of India (in Beijing Legation Quarter until 1969), Ambassador G. Parthasarathy (11:32). Beijing Ming Imperial Palace: Bronze tortoise and crane, Hall of Supreme Harmony, pottery, bronze, jade carving (11:57). Temple of Heaven (13:43). Temple of Broad Charity (14:15). Yonghe Temple (15:00). Five Pagoda Temple (Hohhot), friezes with Buddhist and China symbols (15:25). Church of the Saviour (15:48). Niujie Mosque (15:52). Education: Tsinghua University polytechnic college, Institute of Iron and Steel (16:11). Students seen building out steel rolling shed, co-ed steel smelting workshop, teachers and students in small villages teaching new technologies (17:15). Peking University: Student performance of flower and youth folk dance from Qinghai province (18:26). Minzu University of China, education of ethnic minorities within China; examples of different alphabets (20:13). Soccer match between China and Afghanistan at perhaps Workers' Stadium (21:52). Peking gymnasium: Basketball game, indoor swimming pool competition between Russia and China (22:37). Recreational parachute tower (c.1956) (24:43). Cultural life: Chinese Research Institution for National Music, Peking Studio of Chinese Traditional Painting, top artists in China (25:02). Ming Tombs Reservoir, scenes of construction and Mao Zedong visiting work site (26:38). Ming tombs (b. 1368-1644), details of tombs and surrounding gardens with statues of stone animals (28:25). Animals and nature: Giant pandas in captivity, goldfish, tour of Beijing Zoo (29:53). Painted political murals and posters throughout city (30:35). Beijing Exhibition Center, All China Industrial Exhibition examples of machines, cameras, appliances for atomic energy on display (31:44). Peking No 2 State Cotton Textile Mill, workers' quarters opposite mill (33:13). Premier opera star Mei Lanfang, performance of “The Drunken Concubine” (33:54). Dance performances by visiting Song and Dance Ensemble of Azerbaijan (35:42). Example of a People’s Commune outside of Peking, farming cooperative; Rice, cabbage, other grains and livestock, Special manually powered wheel; Militia drills; Laboratory on commune; Field of iron and steel furnaces (37:55). Dance performances: Chinese performance of Russian “national” ballet “Swan Lake,” Korean dance performed by members of Peking Dance School (42:24). Film ends (46:00).

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com