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Some people commented 2018 was "Year of Idol" in Mainland China. Two reality competitions shows were popular among youngsters and became a hot topic on internet. How the young trainees struggle for the competition and stay at audience's heart?
As a way of managing increasing social tensions in Chinese society, the government have been trying to rebuild social work as a profession in recent years. However, supporting institutions remain immature and resources implored focus in urban area and undermine the needs in rural area. Young Chinese social workers were frustrated for not being able to make any impact in developing a self-sustained community, instead, endless scattered short-term cases needed to be handled only when incidents happened. Some of them therefore decided to start social work campaigns in rural area, hoping to find a way to turn rural economy self-sustainable.
Xian Liang Xi Village, like most of the rural villages in China, loses its vitality since most youngsters migrated into cities to look for jobs. Some social workers tried to organize women who are left behind to run a hostel business. They thought this would help these women to gain confidence and hence a way of living without to need to move to cities. Later, youngsters, who were tired to leaving home in exchange for a busy life-style, were also motivated by them and come back to work with these social workers, hoping to make the village economically self-sustainable again.
As outsiders, would these social workers be able to bring back vitality to Xian Lian Xi Village? Under the current Chinese state policies that aim at developing cities by undermining rural areas, what difficulties would they encounter?
No one could choose their own family; and these children were born in an isolated leprosy rehabilitation village.
In 1950s, their ancestors were infected with leprosy and forcingly isolated in Dai Huo Di Village in Yunnan Province, where they started a new life and settled down. Despite of the fact that all the patients there were completely cured in 1980s-90s, the name of "leprosy village" is still lingering the village today, and the healthy children are being labeled, discriminated and even having difficulties to go to school properly.
While everyone see Da Huo Di as a cursed place, it is yet a heartwarming home in 19-year-old Fu Chao Wen's eyes.
In the last few decades, China has been experiencing tremendous changes in its economy, society and infrastructure. Each episode of "China Stories" shows audience China by presenting them with stories, characters and images, in the hope that they may understand what the Chinese think, do, and care about now. Leaders have dreams, but what about the dreams of the people?
1. The Lost Generation
2. Master of Suona Horn
3. A Young Conductor
4. Ballerina in a Field
4 DVDs (With English Subtitles) / 2018 / 120 minutes
Under "one child policy" in China, like others only child, Lan Yu-peng was given the best his parents could provide. He becomes a young conductor of Chinese orchestra. However, Lan's path is not smooth. Restrictions and bureaucracy is common in many Chinese orchestra and Lan has no way to break through. In the meantime, Lan's father has been sick severely. Lan has to give up his dream but runs his father 's business, so as to maintain the quality of lives of the whole family. Struggling between dreams and reality, may be many only child in China share the same situation.
Duancun is a part of Anxin county in Hebei province. It's a typical Chinese village. The new campus of Duancun School was completed in 2013. Ordinary village children go to school here, but the fate of some pupils changed due to Guan Yu's arrival in the village. In 2013, Guan Yu and his wife Zhang Ping came to Duancun. They offer a systematic art education programme. In the beginning, the obstacles Guan Yu ran into were beyond his imagination.The couple initially just wanted the village children to learn ballet happily. Yet after learning more about the situation in the village, they have a change of mind...
Suona horn, a musical instrument with traditional Chinese characteristics, is well known for its sound and style. Master of Suona horn, Guo Ya-chi, innovates the techniques and promotes this artistry to western society. It is Guo's dream to make a musical play with Suona horn in Broadway theatre and his dream is getting closer. Guo is getting famous and successful in U.S. and it's time to promote Suona horn in his homeland, China. With all the restrictions and obstacles, can Guo 's path be smooth and straight?
Hundred thousand of urban youth in Shanghai were sent to Xinjiang in 1960s, in order to construct the infrastructure. Some of them were sent there unwillingly. They have sacrificed better living conditions in urban city, their career and future and led a miserable life in Xinjiang. After fifty years, some of the urban youth went back to their homeland Shanghai in their seventies. They are still living in unstable conditions even though they have been staying in the most prosperous city.
In the last few decades, China has been experiencing tremendous changes in her economy, society and infrastructure. Her leaders dream about revival of the Chinese race: domestically, they want to lead nationals out of poverty towards a reasonable standard of living; internationally, they want to propel the realization of an economic corridor, via both land and sea, and draft a blueprint for a rising power. Leaders have dreams, but what do their subjects dream about?
Each episode of "China Stories" shows audience around in China by presenting them with the stories of some characters, as well as some images, in the hope that they may understand what the present-day Chinese think, do, and care about.
1. The vanishing shadow
2. The invisible citizens
3. The Rise of Online Celebrities in Mainland
4. Guangxi 1968
5. Building a Utopia
6. Speedy Home Coming
7. The last animal tamer
8. Blind Soccer
9. Human-Elephant Conflict
10. Invisible Wings
10 DVDs (With English Subtitles) / 2016 / 300 minutes
Founded in 2006, China's Blind Football Team has got countless of awards over the decade. They never stop chasing their dreams even without lights in life, and they win for their country and their wonderful life. The team is heading for Rio 2016 Paralympic Games this year although full of injuries. After this game, they're supposed to retire, how's their life going to be? However, the shortage of young team seems to be a stumbling block of the road of the team keep running on.
In China, to live a better life, you have to be better-off.
Is there another way?
Tang Guanhua, contemporary artist, believes so.
He took the road less travelled by. And that has made all the difference.
In 2011, Tang closed his profit making design company and founded the "China Self-sufficient Laboratory" in the rural outskirt of Qingdao. For 5 years, Tang and his wife had tried to survive by their own wiles, producing everything from shoes to electricity, giving up prestige job and. The experience strengthened his belief that the more one relies on money, the less independent thinking they can have.
Now he goes a step further.
He strives to build a utopia - or in his words, an Intentional Community, the first of its kind in China. On a rural farmland in Fuzhou, Tang and his followers pursued their dream. Having the same visions and values, they want to form a self-sufficient community, sharing skills and talents. It should be environmentally sustainable and it should have its own social structure, education and welfare system. Decisions are to make through deliberation.
While cities in China are crippled by smog, mercenaries and wealth gaps, is such community an alternative for our future generations?
Yunnan Province is the last habitat for China's remaining wild elephants. Since 1992, due to the depletion of natural habitat caused by human activities, elephants have frequented villages in Xishuangbanna where they've destroyed crops and houses and injured people.
In the Xishan District, thirty or so kilometres away from the city of Kunming, is a kingdom that is known for being a paradise on earth. Everyday, pilgrims from throughout the nation pour in. But the land of stories isn't all magical, even fairytales can be disturbing. The theme park is painted as a loving community but just like the outside world, the park is full of cliques. People under the height of 1.5 metres, who suffer from dwarfism like Chen Jianquan number at 8 million in Mainland China. They are seen as outsiders, and it is difficult for them to assimilate into society. What Chen Jianquan hopes for the most is to return to his parents.
In the last few decades, China has been experiencing tremendous changes in her economy, society and infrastructure. Her leaders dream about revival of the Chinese race: domestically, they want to lead nationals out of poverty towards a reasonable standard of living; internationally, they want to propel the realization of an economic corridor, via both land and sea, and draft a blueprint for a rising power. Leaders have dreams, but what do their subjects dream about?
Each episode of "China Stories" shows audience around in China by presenting them with the stories of some characters, as well as some images, in the hope that they may understand what the present-day Chinese think, do, and care about.
2016.1.1 marks the end of China's one-child policy, allowing all couples to give birth for second kid since draconian family planning rules were introduced more than 30 years ago.
The policy is said to be an elixir for the aging community in China, albeit previous fine-tuning policy such as "selective two-child policy" fails to encourage couple to have two kids.
While kids that are born in and after 2016 are "contributors" to the aging problems in China, kids that were born before were called the "invisible men" simple because their parents.
As seen through the eyes of the second kid without identity, this documentary further examines the pains and problems left as a result of the one child policy and the greater meaning it holds about the essence of birth control.
Taogou Village is a county in Suzhou city, Anhui Province, the only place where training animal for circus performance in China, it's also called the origin of the Chinese circus because 90% of the circus teams are from here. In the village, hundred of lions, tigers, bears are conducting "talent training" every day, there are over 300 circuses in the village with over 20,000 employees, annual income over 300 millions, circus becomes the biggest business in the town.
Wei Zheng joined the circus when he was in 17 and now is a circus owner, the 3rd generation of the circus family. Wei's family started circus performance over 100 years since his grandfather. However, the law of anti-abusing animal implied recently, the way of training animal is claimed as inhumanity, despite the fact that the circus industry in China has a long history, it declines as a result. As a national intangible cultural heritage, how will it survive? Is it time to be banned? Will Wei Zheng be the last animal tamer? All those questions are harassing him.
"Online Celebrity" is becoming a trend in mainland. Through sharing their eye-catching photos or videos, they display a beautiful lifestyle that fulfills the aspiration of their internet followers. Furthermore, these online celebrities have find a way to turn this virtual fame and support into real fortune.
Eve Cheung, a famous online celebrity from Shanghai, has started her online boutique which sale over hundred millions every year. Adonis Liao, another online celebrity from Beijing, believes that the digital age allows even the most ordinary people to display their talents to the world, which he found good-looking is definitely an advantage that he wants to pursue…
Does the rise of GDP reflect the rise of a great nation? Wang shao-sen, Sen, does not agree. Sen is a post 80's youth who owns a silk cloth company in Dalian. Two years ago, he watched a shadow play show held by E Wen-wu, an 80 years old Chinese shadow play show artist, in an old cinema. Sen was impressed by the show. He designed to prepare a nationwide shadow play tour for the old artists. However, he finds it is hard to renew people's interest on traditional culture even he gave up his own silk business and lost 20 thousand RMB to promote the shows.
Finally, he finds a way out with an unexpected channel-internet crowd-funding platform in China. What will happen when the traditional culture and the new media collide?
China has experienced tremendous changes in terms of her economic, socialand infrastructural developments in the recent decades. She has progressed from poverty to moderate prosperity. However, prosperity is achieved at the expense of unprecedented social problems, including environmental pollution, food safety issue and moral degeneration. On the other hand, we also see the struggles of individuals. Some parents are ready to do anything to make their children succeed in life; someone still feels emptiness despite the possession of a fortune while someone else still holds to his ideals and beliefs despite numerous failures and attempts …
Upon coming to the crossroad, one cannot help but ask: Which direction will China go?
What has modernisation brought to the 1.3 billion people on the soil of China? What will be the next step?
1. A New Age
2. Through the Eyes of Villagers
3. Mayor, Policeman and Teacher
4. The Stage of Their Own
5. A Way Out
6. The Predicament of Wenzhou
7. The Inventor's Dream
8. Lost & Found
9. Dreams of Stardom
10. Laobanzhang
11. Life in Dafen
12. My Husband is Gay
12 DVDs (With English Subtitles) / 2015 / 360 minutes
Once upon a time, a steady job was a dream pursued by Chinese youth. But now, young people are no longer content with a steady job. Many of them choose to start their own businesses, hoping to become wealthy, to challenge themselves and to reflect their values.
The idea of starting one's business seems prosperous in the relatively improved business environment, despite such ideas come with great risk.
In this episode, we follow a few young entrepreneurs to record their stories. Some of them have already experienced success while the others are still fighting alone. Despite their future is unpredictable, they nonetheless represent the most genuine and bravest side of Chinese youth today.
Since the policy of reform and opening-up, China has experienced a series of reforms and attained huge success. However, such success was absent in the reforms regarding state-owned enterprises.
Chongqing Beibei Glassware Factory is one of the many trouble-struck state-owned enterprises. As a business with long history, the Factory has experienced both opportunities and difficulties brought by the market economy system and the structure reform. Despite various efforts have been made, it still failed to reduce its debt burdens.
In this episode, we will record various reforms of the Factory from glory to decline, and show how the people of the factory try to save the business.
The great voice, inspiring stories, no expense was spared with the production. In the past decade, music talent shows have become a big hit on the Mainland.
Many musicians want to get on stage. Many dream chasers long to be famous overnight. But after being a rising star, can they really make their dreams come true?
How endless, similar talent shows affect the music industry in China.
Every spring, many Pu'er lovers travel a long way here to search for tea trees over a hundred years old. This ancient tea garden covering continuous mountain ridges is full of footprints of tea drinkers from afar. It has changed the Laobanzhang Village, a village inhibited by only a hundred households of Hani people In the past, generations of Hani in the village had to walk for six hours along mountain roads to the county town. Through a decade of transformation each household now owns vehicles. Wooden huts in the past are almost extinct. The traditional culture of Laobanzhang village is being washed out by modern civilization, and the materialistic society.
Dafen Village, Longgang, Shenzhen, was a backward village. In the early 90s, A Hong Kong oil painting merchant spotted its affordable land price and low labour cost.
He decided to rent houses here and hired students and painters to reproduce oil paintings. Dafen thus became specialised in painting reproductions, annually exporting one million oil paintings to the world . As there are many opportunities, many painters come here to work.
In recent years, Dafen Village is undergoing a transformation. The reproductions will be gradually eliminated. Painters hover between life and art. Despite challenges, they never give up.
Jin Huaqing, a documentary filmmaker born in the 80s, grows up in the countryside, transforms from poverty to affluence, pretty much follows the same trend of the economic change in China. The themes of his works focus on the underprivileged migrant workers, the elderly, children, and women, and also on social issues such as poverty, disease and environmental issues.
He has been working in a television station for over a decade, but his works are often censored by his superiors before they are being broadcasted. Ironically, the uncut versions of his works have gained much attention from international film festivals and won many awards since. In 2014, he decided to quit his job in television station and planned to be an independent filmmaker. His next project embarks on a remote area in Sichuan called Ayo Temple, where thousands of nuns reside.
It is not an easy task. Director Jin Huaqing has to deal with extreme cold temperature, acute mountain sickness, and language barrier in Tibetans. All these difficulties are within the grasp of Jin, but under the current political climate in Mainland China, is it possible to accommodate people like Jin to express criticism and deeper reflection in documentary.
With support of a civilian organization overseas, three students from families in poverty had achieved their dream of being a teacher. A few years later, influenced by the monetary-orientated trend in China, They chose to leave their field. Abandoning their aspiration and the teaching career that they were fond of, they became government cadre and policeman.
The programme documented the changes and struggles of these three young men who once shared a common dream and are now striving for different kinds of life.
"Tongqi" is a Chinese language neologism for women who have married gay men. To continue the family bloodline is one of the most important values to a traditional Chinese family. Most gay men will choose to marry a woman as requested by parents.
According to Professor Zhang Bei-Chuan, there are around 14 million "Tongqi" in China. Most of them have no idea about the homosexual identity of their partners until their first child was born. Some of them will even not be informed until the end of their life.
Teresa from Wuhan was once a "Tongqi". Her husband came out to her two months after their wedding. In this documentary, Teresa shares her experience of being a "Tongqi" and how it changed her life. Fortunately, her "Tongqi" experience does not ruin her life. In contrary, she chooses to dedicate her life to help other "Tongqi" to walk out of darkness.
"Tongqi is living beneath a roof of ice," said by Professor Zhang Bei-Chuan. Nearly none of them is willing to share their story to public openly. However, Teresa is determined to do so, with the hope that she can be the last "Tongqi" in history.
This year's Lantern Festival in Quanzhou, Teresa, dressed in a pink cheongsam, walking on the street to promote "Tongqi" to thousands of public. Feedback from the crowd is diverse. Some clapped to encourage, while some yelled to fight back. All of the above is the story of Teresa, one of the 14 million "Tongqi" in China.
When talking of robots, you often picture a Hollywood movie, not a machine easily used by people. However, an illiterate farmer called Wu Yulu in Beijing has invented over 60 robots. And they are not meant for display - they could help in household chores and even draw.
There are over 1 million DIY inventors like Wu Yulu, pursue their invention dreams with limited capitals and scrap metals in nowadays China. They are peasants, engineers, and entrepreneurs who have taken on ambitious do-it-yourself projects, constructing homemade submarines, helicopters, robots, safety equipment, weapons and much more.
It is partly driven by the government's ambitions to transform the economy from "Made in China" to "Created in China." And this explains why China is the world's patent leader for four consecutive years.
Behind this national fame, however, inventors in China hardly find ways to protect their patent rights against infringers. As such, how can they pursue their "China dreams" with all these constraints?
Wenzhou is a city with the most vibrant private sectors. Wenzhounese are very good at doing business so they are hailed as the "Jews of the Orient". Since the reform and opening up, Wenzhou has become a leader in private business. Recently, the credit crunch has hit our local private companies.
Guangzhou is the largest city in south China. It has a long and deep-rooted history and culture. As the wheel of time turns, this old city has undergone tremendous changes. A group of young Guangzhou natives uses Cantonese rap music to speak for the oppressed citizens here.
How has China transformed, inside 30 years, from developing nation to the world's next largest economy after the USA? Includes interviews with historians, eye-witnesses and party officials.
TIANANMEN SQUARE A dramatic turning point was the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989 - the communist party decided to bring in economic, if not political, freedom. It meant an historic turning away from state control to a market economy.
AN ANCIENT CIVILISATION But the causes of China's rise go right back into history, to the world's oldest civilisation, and in a sense it is only returning to its former greatness.
COMMUNISM GOOD AND BAD Despite the excesses, it can be argued the communist takeover in 1947 laid the foundations for China's rise, beginning the process of industrialisation, mobilising the people and sharing out the land more equally. One of its key achievements: allowing social mobility. But inequality, corruption and pollution are causing widespread protest.
China is flexing its economic muscle, investing all over the world. What does this mean for the West?
AFRICA China needs access to energy and raw materials - that's why it's pouring huge investment into Africa. Mozambique's economy, for example, is booming, with Chinese-led construction and agriculture projects. Is this part of a "grand plan" on China's part? Who is "master" and who is "servant" in these new relationships?
THE EU also receives Chinese money, and is China's largest trading partner, but what about principles such as human rights? Critics argue the EU is in danger of losing its sovereignty in the rush for China's gold.
CONFLICT WITH THE USA? As China asserts itself on the world stage, is there a danger of conflict with the USA? In fact, China is a long way from challenging the USA militarily and anyway, conflict is "unthinkable", the experts say, in the nuclear age and when the two powers are economically co-dependent.
China is now a market economy, but holds on to the communist political system - pollution, corruption and ethnic divisions cause great tensions.
POLITICS They call it "Socialism with Chinese characteristics" but the communist party has a monopoly on power and no opposition is tolerated. There are tensions in regions such as Xinjiang Province where movements for independence have led to violence.
PROTEST In a one-party system the people are the opposition. A major cause of popular protest is land expropriations to build factories. The party says it must listen to these protests - but are they?
FREEDOM OF SPEECH Protests grow against censorship and human rights violations - the authorities try to clamp down but the internet is hard to censor. Says one blogger: "We can hope for a civil society, where people may dare to speak out."
China's "new billionaires" are well-known but what about the small businesses? Many were set up by migrants who have battled against hardship - and many are women.
THE PR BUSINESS 24 year old Tian Qiuyu started her business while she was still at university and now employs 6 people - but she never forgets her roots in a poor, remote village area where education was a fight against the odds. She wants to help educate other young people from the country. "They shouldn't just accept their fate. I didn't."
THE BEAUTY SALON Yu Xinpei is also the daughter of poor farmers, but now owns two beauty parlours and employs 60 people. She now mixes with Shanghai's other young high-flyers whom she is keen to learn from.
But for most migrants, earning a living is a hard struggle. Mrs Zhang set up a small retail business with her husband - with the heartbreak of leaving her children behind.
A big principle of socialism is equality, but China's new society has glaring inequalities. The communist party calls it "socialism with Chinese characteristics" but, in the rush for growth, have they created a society far harsher than western capitalism?
COMMUNISM COMES TO IKEA The new China now has a growing middle class with the same aspirations as their western counterparts - they want good schools, a good apartment, holidays, a decent retirement package - and furniture from Ikea!
TOWN AND COUNTRY But the "economic miracle" has left millions behind - there is much hardship in China's vast hinterland where water is scarce and harvests are poor. The government says it is listening to the protests of the disenfranchised - but are they not more interested in holding on to power?
Chinese development has depended on a vast influx of 250 million migrant workers into the cities - some have prospered but most are poorly paid and housed, with few rights. Mass protests mean the government can no longer take them for granted.
THE TRAINEE CHEF'S STORY Li Xu Bin is a migrant worker like millions of others, on low pay and with little job security, living with his wife in a single room in Beijing's suburbs. They have left their child behind, the cause of much heartache.
THE FRUIT VENDORS Like Li Xu Bin, Mr and Mrs Zhang have moved to the city to earn money to pay for their children's education. The rules say their children must stay behind. Meanwhile they have to work all hours to make ends meet. Says Mrs Zhang: "We never have a single day off."
The Chinese want the same life style as the West - but at what cost? The air and water are polluted, causing much suffering and protest - as well as a drought crisis. Chinese leaders talk of moving away from fossil fuels, but how much changes at local level?
"THEY SILENCE OUR COMPLAINTS" The holiday resort of Hangzhou is supposed to be a model "green" city, but in the suburbs it's a story of toxic chemicals, corruption of local officials and suppression of protest.
WATER CRISIS Over half of China's rivers and lakes are badly polluted, and the water table is falling. 300 million rural people lack access to safe drinking water. Ma Jun has created a website to shame the worst industrial polluters.
RENEWABLES The experimental city of Himin Solar Valley is held up as a great example of sustainability - but is it too little, too late?
The communist revolution gave women theoretical equality, but centuries-old oppressions still persist. Women have suffered through the "one child" policy. But women are now among China's top entrepreneurs.
"ONE CHILD" POLICY China's coercive policy of forbidding more than one child has had a cruel effect on China's women. The policy is now being relaxed - but some women are happy with one child.
SUICIDE WATCH China is the only country where the suicide rate is higher among women than men - experts say this may be down to the low status of rural women. Can education help?
"EDUCATION COMES FIRST" Language professor Wu Quing runs a vocational school for young rural women. "It's a man's world - but change rural women and you will change China."
"THE STUDIES ARE DEMANDING" Architectural student Ghuan Zhaoyu is one of China's growing university population. She wants to study abroad but, as an only child, she has to think of her parents.
Three decades ago China was regarded as a developing country. Today it is the world's second largest economy, having made the journey from scarcity and poverty to wealth and abundance faster than any other nation in history-a narrative that Chinese leaders are eager to promote. But the official record makes no mention of events which directly precipitated China's astonishing economic rise-most notably, the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989. This film describes what happened when the rigid policies instigated under Mao gave way to the era of Deng Xiao Ping, who ushered in unprecedented opportunities for creating personal wealth-as well as sociopolitical paradigm shifts that no one could anticipate. Expert commentary is provided by Chen Mingming, a high-ranking Chinese diplomat; Professor Zhu Ling, Deputy Director at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS); Yu Hua, author of To Live; and others.
DVD (Portions with English subtitles) / 2012 / 29 minutes
It can be argued that China's newfound affluence is made possible not by bold entrepreneurs but by disadvantaged migrant workers, millions of whom have left the rural villages in which they were born to seek better lives in cities. This film takes viewers inside that globally significant megatrend with stories of Chinese migrants and their challenges. Li Xu Bin and his wife Dai barely get by on temp jobs in the Beijing suburb of Dong Xin Dian. But in Guiyang, capital of Guizhou province, a young woman named Tian Qiuyu has rejected work for hire and founded her own PR firm. And at Tongji University in Shanghai, budding architect Guan Zhaoyu makes the most of the education her parents never had. Expert commentary comes from Fudan University professor Zhou Dunren, who talks about the importance of understanding the difficulties that migrant workers face in China today and how their outlook compares with those of previous generations.
DVD (Portions with English subtitles) / 2012 / 29 minutes
A country that can look back on a rich and extensive past will undoubtedly have a wealth of stories, and China's literary tradition, with its multi-millennial history of essays, novels, and poetry, is likely the world's oldest. But even in a land that reveres poetry, pictures can take over-especially moving pictures. Although small art-house films were the only choice after the cinematically barren years of the Cultural Revolution, today China is a major producer of movie spectacles. This program shows how far the country has come in terms of cultural production and how it is poised to rival the U.S. as the world's filmmaking center. Contemporary Chinese literature and the market for books are also important topics, as are censorship, self-censorship, and why certain motifs are recurrent in Chinese stories. Expert commentary comes from director Eva Jin, film critic Raymond Zhou, film industry analyst Leon Gao, stunt man Zeng Dong, and author Yan Lianke.
DVD (Portions with English subtitles) / 2012 / 29 minutes
Skyrocketing wealth might be building a new China, but it is also leading to deep divisions within Chinese society. As in the United States, some experts even question whether or not a widening lifestyle gap is truly beneficial for the country's long-term economic growth, not to mention for social stability. This film looks at emerging class differences in what was originally designed to be a classless state, with discussions focusing on multigenerational poverty in rural areas and the precarious existence of hundreds of millions of migrant workers on the fringes of China's cities. For street-level insight, viewers are invited into the household of two apartment tenants who are most likely living paycheck to paycheck, but who have high ambitions for their young son. Expert commentary comes from Fudan University professor Zhou Dunren, writer Xie Chuntao, and other observers of China's rapidly evolving social landscape.
DVD (Portions with English subtitles) / 2012 / 29 minutes
Mao's aphorism about the strength and ability of women may have helped to do away with foot-binding, child marriage, and other archaic traditions, but in 21st-century China gender equality is as illusory as ever. This film examines the challenges that Chinese women face, especially the obstacles to prosperity and security that the country's poor, rural women know all too well. Viewers meet Yu Xinpei, who migrated to Shangai from a remote southern village. At first apprenticed to a hairdresser, she's now starting a salon of her own. Meanwhile, sociologist Liu Bohong talks about the difficulties women encounter when they move to cities-although those who stay in the provinces "have it harder." Many become suicide statistics, which is why physician Xu Rong has founded a support group for wives and daughters who are struggling with rural life. On the other hand, the film also points out that 11 of the world's richest women are Chinese!
DVD (Portions with English subtitles) / 2012 / 29 minutes
"Promoting growth and protecting the environment is a contradiction," says Chinese ambassador Chen Mingming, insisting that the opulent lifestyle of "people overseas" should figure into any assessment of his country's environmental policies. "Isn't it legitimate for the Chinese to seek the same quality of life? That means economic development." Others who support the government's approach to ecological problems also appear in this film, such as political observer Xie Chuntao-although he does acknowledge tangible policy splits within China's leadership and the difficulty of balancing environmental protection with the constant need for energy and raw materials. For a less ambivalent view, the film turns to activist Chen Faqing as he meets with angry suburbanites outside Hangzhou-a supposedly "model city" now plagued by factory pollution. With protests and potentially violent confrontations like these brewing across China, will the government seek a new way forward?
DVD (Portions with English subtitles) / 2012 / 29 minutes
To surpass the U.S. in economic might, China needs access to cheap energy and raw materials. That's why it is now heavily invested in developing countries-most notably in Africa, where millions of Chinese citizens have relocated. Mozambique, which has China to thank for its remarkable 10 percent growth rate, offers an eye-opening case study. This film travels in and around the capital city of Maputo, highlighting examples of Chinese-backed development and assembling various perspectives on China's involvement in the African "lion economies." Surveying a vast, fertile field with his African business partner, Chinese-born rice producer Luo Haoping describes new agricultural techniques he's shared with local growers, while Lyle White, a South African expert on China, sheds light on the complex forces behind this and similar endeavors. Several other experts are also featured in discussions about China's future as a global economic force and development leader.
DVD (Portions with English subtitles) / 2012 / 29 minutes
They aren't chosen by popular election, but when the 3,000 members of the National People's Congress gather in Beijing, they do the nation's business within their ascribed political parameters. Does this mean that the average citizen has a voice in government? Are China's top leaders influenced by these locally appointed representatives, or is power so centralized that over 1.35 billion people can still be ruled as a whole, from behind closed doors? This film presents stories and discussions about China's one-party system, how an individual NPC appointee participates in it, and what alternative forms of political expression are possible. Viewers meet Dilina'er Abudulah, a delegate from the Xinjiang autonomous region who represents the Uyghur ethnic minority. Her thoughts and daily activities are presented alongside commentary from scholars, everyday citizens, and government supporters, including Xie Chuntao, author of How and Why the CPC Works in China.
DVD (Portions with English subtitles) / 2012 / 29 minutes
1: A Marginal Group
2: Marrying Into Her Family
3: The Mosuo In The Spotlight
4: Give Me Back The Natural Scenery
5: Returning Support To Rural Areas
6: Monks And The City
7: Sorrow Behind Redevelopment
8: Village Official As Blogger
Peasant workers have made silent contributions to the reform and opening-up of China, and have witnessed the transition and development of the history of modern China. Peasant workers return to their native land and there is a shortage of labour in Pearl River Delta, Guangdong. Such phenomenon has become an important issue. Having strived hard to make a living in urban areas, why these peasants decide to go home? The reasons behind are worthy of deep reflection.
This episode tells the true stories of two peasants who work in coastal cities and return to their homeland. The two cases illustrate the employment problems encountered by peasant workers and the changes experienced by this marginal group in the 30 years of economic reform in China.
In a traditional marriage, a woman marries into the husband?s family, and her children take on the family name of their father. However, in some rich cities in Zhejiang Province, things are changing.
The one-child policy has left some families with only one daughter. Feeling the need to carry on their family lineage, women now look for men who are willing to marry into their families so that their children could take up the mother?s surname. Meanwhile, men from other provinces are finding it hard to make ends meet in the cities, not to mention supporting a family. Because of this, some men are willing to do what it takes for a better life. With supply and demand in place, matchmaking agencies dedicated to this type of marriage are a thriving business.
This could be a win-win situation, but are things always as good as they seem?
Sang Chu is a young Mosuo from Dazu Village at Lugu Lake Town, Yanyuan County, Sichuan. His family had been very poor until their family hostel, Gesang Garden, was launched in 2000.
The tide of reforms and opening-up in the new century has swept over the Mosuo at Lugu Lake. After some adventures, Gesang returned to his homeland before the National Day Golden Week in 2007. Like his fellow villagers, he was occupied with the business of his family hostel, making preparation for the Golden Week holiday. During the long holiday, crowds of tourists filled the quiet Lugu Lake with hustle and bustle.
The villagers were busied with touting for business and serving the tourists. Gesang's father expected his son would help the family to repay the low-interest loan soon. Gesang appeared to have devoted himself to the family business, but he was secretly seeking after the dream of becoming a superstar on television. He planned to leave again and look for opportunities despite objection of his family.
Thirty years of reform and opening up brings to China as much prosperity as pollution resulted from industrial development. Industrial wastewater led to polluted river, allegedly the root cause of the drastic rise of cancer cases in Wuli Village. Wai Dongying, a barely educated villager, recorded the death cases one by one in her "Diary of Death".
Zhang Changjian, a bare-foot doctor in Xiping, Fujian, witnessed the rising number of cancer patients in his village. As the regional officials turn a blind eye to the crisis, Zhang joined forces with more than 1,700 fellow villagers suing the chemical factory in their neighbourhood. Winning the case, Zhang found himself becoming a marked man...
The plight of the two "cancer villages" reveals the harm to the Chinese people brought by water pollution. China should have by now realised the price to pay for over development and that "good" is more important than "fast".
A group of advertising professionals lost interest in food bought from urban markets as large amount of pesticides and chemical fertilizers had been applied. To seek vanishing fine food, they traveled to rural areas and met the peasants. Under the surface of beautiful rural scenery, they witnessed the disparity between the urban rich and the rural poor resulting from 30 years of reforms and opening-up.
Ordinary picnics among a few friends during holidays have gradually become a movement of " Urban-Rural Interaction to Repay the Rural Areas " . Together with the peasants, these professionals make use of their creativity to work on farmland, pigpens, village houses and dining tables, and reflect on their vision of development and ideal lifestyle. They walk side by side with the peasants on the path of rural development, hoping that organic farming may bring higher income to peasants and healthier food to urban people.
Prosperous cities mark the achievements of 30 years of reforms and opening-up. However, such prosperity has been resulted from the continual support and sacrifices on the part of rural areas. Will the cities repay the rural areas in the future? Maybe it would happen in the next 30 years.
At 5 o'clock every morning, when the inhabitants of Anyuan Road are still sleeping soundly, over 10 monk students in Jade Buddha Monastery, Shanghai commence their new day as do other monks in the monastery. After praying and taking their breakfasts, these monks get on the "school bus" that is waiting outside the refectory, and travel to the outside world to study in a university.
Indeed, the Jade Buddha Monastery has been promoting the philosophy of "Living Buddhism", i.e. performing secular works with a spirit of indifference. Guided by such philosophy, the leadership of the monastery has selected some monks to study foreign languages and MBA, and strive to bring innovations to Buddhism, including the life of the monks. The monks participate in and organize social activities actively, and do not resist to act in a commercial way.
China is transforming with the construction of skyscrapers and modern architectures, which signify rapid economic development and the rise of a powerful nation. However, behind the scene of prosperity, many homes have been destroyed.
Zhang Wei used to reside in Xianyukou District, which belonged to a historical conservation district. Two years ago,the government demolished her home by force for reason of constructing new roads. It pushed Zhang Wei to the path of making appeals to higher authorities, and she determined to prove that the government had violated the Law on the Protection of Cultural Relics by carrying out illegal demolition. Unfortunately, the court delayed the trial deliberately and the police also hindered them from making appeals. It became a tough journey for her.
On 6th August 2008, two days prior to the opening of the Olympics, Zhang Wei was detained for 30 days on suspicion of undermining social order. The absence of an independent judiciary in China makes defending against illegal demolition more difficult.
There used to be over 300 households in Cuobuling Village, Qingdao. After illegal redevelopment carried out by the district government, only the household of Madam Yu remained. To persist in her defence, she had lived a life without water and electricity supply for over a year while expecting the court ruling at second instance. Being unable to seek help from the government, Yu Jian-li, one of the villagers, reported the crimes of corrupted officials on the internet. Consequently, he was convicted of defamation and sentenced to prison.
Although the Property Law has been promulgated for nearly a year, cases of incompliance with the law still exist. If the issue is not resolved, we will see more cases of illegal redevelopment in the future, pushing more people to the path of defending their rights.
"Don't think village heads are not cadres" was once a popular saying in Mainland China, meaning although the village head is a low ranking official, he is still a cadre and should not be overlooked.
Shen Yongqiang is the Secretary of the Communist Party Branch and Head of the Village Committee of Xiadongkuo Village in the outskirts of Beijing. Shen is no dimwit. In the summer of 2006, he started blogging to publicize his village, so as to attract investors to develop his ecology resort. It never occurred to Shen that his blog would record a hit rate of over 220,000 for the first two years. It even captured the attention of various media which then sent reporters to interview Shen.
However, Shen's putting village matters online has aroused concern and censorship from Town government. From Shen's happiness and trouble, we can see changes as well as rigidity of rural areas in China after reform and opening-up.
Mr Kong, known as Kong Fu to the Chinese and as Confucius to the outside world, was a sort of philosophical government advisor around 500 bc - 200 years or so before the Chinese Empire was founded.
He tried to persuade the rulers of the time that for a harmonious and orderly society the rulers had to behave honourably. "Treat others as you would have them treat you." If the rulers are honourable and trustworthy, he argued, then there is a better chance that the people will be too.
Astonishingly, this simple idea was taken up and put into effect by a long succession of capable rulers and administrators. It had a profound effect on Chinese life over many centuries and still does today.
From a failed communist state in 1979, China has risen to be the world's second largest economy today, a situation of which few of us can be unaware. Who doesn't own a gadget "Made in China"? It's little short of a miracle.
But what would Mr Kong make of the current government? Is it honourable? Can it produce a harmonious society? Will it all end in grief? Given all the problems, what will happen next?
We can't say. However, the more we appreciate the astonishing Chinese story revealed in these 5 programmes and the contributions it has already made to human society under the benign influence of Mr Kong, the more sympathetic we will be towards its current rise and hopefully the more confident that the Chinese will somehow find a peaceful way forward.
1. The Middle Kingdom: The Democratic Viewpoint, Geography, The Dynasties, Confucius, China Today.
2. Matters of the Mind: Superstition, Confucian Commentators, Taoism, Buddhism, Tibet, Sung Education.
3. Heart and Soul: Bronzes, Ceramics, the Character Script, Poetry, Literature.
4. From Harmony to Discord: Music, Gardens, Painting, Science, The Descent into Chaos.
5. The Rough Road to Freedom: Japan, The End of the Empire, Communism, Overseas Chinese, the current Dilemma.
Superstition - Superstition, like everywhere else in the world, largely dominated the Chinese mind in early times.
Commentators on the works of Confucius - Confucian ideas established themselves but there were many commentators over the following centuries who muddied the waters.
The Han Dynasty - The Han dynasty was principally responsible for making Confucian ideas the norm for government and society.
Taoism - Taoism, growing out of early animism, developed ideas of non-interference in the ways of nature.
Buddhism - Buddhism, imported from India, introduced ideas of rebirth and reward for good conduct.
China and Tibet - Today China rules Tibet as it has always done. A largely Buddhist country, it has problems with the secular Chinese.
Sung Education and the Mandarin Bureaucracy - In the Sung dynasty, education according to Confucian principles was established on a huge and influential scale.
Art and the Bronzes - After trying to establish what art is we look at the wonderful bronze work of early times in China.
Ceramics - Fine ceramics from many different ages have come down to us; in particular the Tang Sung and Ming dynasty ware.
The Chinese Character Script - The Chinese character script is difficult to learn but beautiful to see and writing it is regarded as an art form.
Poetry - Poets have always been held in high regard in China. Even in translation their particular beauties shine through.
Literature - Literature in the form of plays and novels developed in later centuries just as they did in other parts of the world.
Epilogue - After their early brilliance, under a deeply conservative leadership, the talents of the Chinese in all fields began to be stifled and consequently to decay.
Music - Music was much enjoyed by Confucius who saw it as a basic element of human harmony.
Houses, Gardens and the Honourable man - With due Confucian regard for order and control over nature, the Chinese gardens are amongst the greatest beauties of the land.
Painting and the Honourable man - For many centuries Chinese painters have wonderfully depicted the people and the landscape.
Science - No society has done so much for science; their great qualities of curiosity and invention have been an immeasurable gift to the world.
Descent into chaos - As the Confucian ethic is dimmed and clouded by blind conservatism, battered by outside forces, Chinese society disintegrates.
Taiping Rebellion - Driven partly by the injustices suffered by the poor and a muddled view of the religious beliefs imported by western missionaries, the Taiping Rebellion rocked China to the core.
Japan - Japan, looked down on by the Chinese as of little import, displays how it has adapted to the times as the Chinese have not.
The Boxers and the end of the empire - As the empire collapses, a secret society called the Boxers feebly attempts to drive out the foreigners.
Japan and the Communist takeover - Japan invades and after the second world war the Communists take over and impose order.
China and the Communists - The rule of Mao and the Communists.
Overseas Chinese - Effective Overseas Chinese communities.
China: The Great Dilemma - The Great Dilemma which faces the Chinese today is how to bring about the democratic freedoms which society deserves without bringing Chaos yet again.