Shanghai diaries

Shanghai customs house, a Western-style structure built in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). [Photo provided to China Daily]

Grand Shanghai is one of three documentary series recently released by Shanghai television stations to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China.

New China in Color, a 50-minute documentary based on color footage of events related to the founding of New China produced by a Soviet film crew, was aired on Oct. 1 on Dragon Television and Shanghai Television's Documentary Channel.

The color footage, which was found in Russia, offers the audience an opportunity to view historic scenes in China during the initial days of New China, including the main ceremony in Beijing. The footage was shot by a film crew from the Soviet Union invited to China before its founding to capture people's lives in color film in 1949 and 1950. They cooperated with Chinese photographers, who used cameras for black-and-white photography, the new documentary's makers say.

An aerial view of Shanghai. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The footage was later kept in the former Soviet Union and produced into color documentaries in Russian and Chinese, and released in both countries. However, the film released in China gradually aged.

Shanghai Audio-Visual Archives rediscovered the original footage preserved at the Russian State Film and Photo Archive-around 200 rolls of film, each lasting 10 minutes-and purchased the copyright of some cuts this year, according to Xie Shenzhao, chief director of New China in Color.

"The new documentary is based on these precious recordings," says Xie.

"We revisited some places and people seen in the footage, aiming to showcase both previous and modern life in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Nanjing and Hangzhou to the audience."

A group of kindergarten children performs a music show in 1949 in a footage by a Soviet film crew. [Photo provided to China Daily]

For example, the Soviet team took a long overlooking shot along the Pearl River in Guangzhou from the 60-meter-high Aiqun Building, which then was the first high-rise there.

Now, the 530-meter Guangzhou Chow Tai Fook Finance Center, also called East Tower, is the tallest skyscraper in the city.

Another cut was on a garden party held at Zhongshan Park in Shanghai's Changning district on the Double Ninth, or Chongyang festival, in October 1949 to show the elderly celebrating.

"A small group of kindergarten children performs a music show in the clip. We found the members online and gathered them at the park to do the performance again," says Xie.

A crew member of the documentary, New China in Color, visits painter Wang Wei (R). [Photo provided to China Daily]

Another recent documentary series, The Untold Story of 221, has been jointly produced by the Qinghai radio and television bureau and the Shanghai Radio and Television Documentary Channel. It turns its focus on China's first nuclear-program base (No. 221) in Jinyintan, Qinghai province. It's where China's first atomic and hydrogen bombs were developed.

It elaborates upon the establishment story of the former factory, the development of the atomic and hydrogen bombs, and the site's later transformation into a tourist site.

The three-episode series premiered on Dragon Television on Sept. 27.