Wednesday February 25, 2009
Dream factory
ZIYING'S BRUSH
The splendour of China’s dynastic past comes alive at Hengdian World Studios.
RECENT years have seen a number of beautifully produced movies (and TV serials) from China, whose directors seem to have a special gift for visually stunning, exquisitely detailed films, helped of course, by the country’s breathtaking landscapes. But what about the studio scenes? Where were they shot?
The United States has Hollywood, India has Bollywood and China? Well, China has Hengdian.
Situated in Dongyang municipality, 150km south of Zhejiang’s provincial capital Hangzhou, this gargantuan movie city has played host to just about every film or TV production that came out of China the past few years. The company’s website claims that as of 2005, a decade after its inception, a whopping 5,000 movies and TV dramas have been shot at Hengdian World Studios.
Founded in the mid-1990s by entrepreneur Xu Wenrong, Hengdian, which sits on a 330ha site, is China’s largest film production facility, and is credited with possessing the world’s biggest indoor studio within its 500,000sqm built-up area.
We arrived at our glittering hotel in Hengdian in the darkness of a rainy evening, our sense of reality blurred right from the start. At the porte-cochere, a wedding couple were greeting guests to the accompaniment of a small drum band, the smiling bride in a white satin gown trimmed with shimmering crystal starbursts.
Song dynasty at Hengdian: Riverside scene at Qingming festival. Note the silk flowers blooming on the bushes. Feeling a little disoriented after our long journey from the dreamy rural landscape of Huangshan, I thought we had wandered into some movie shoot. But no, it was a bona fide nuptial in this haven of make-believe.
Five minutes from the hotel, Dream Valley is a 22-hectare theme park whose entrance opens into a pretend primeval world.
Surprisingly, given the distances, there were no buggies available nor were there any rain shelters or resting places. After walking for what seemed like ages, we arrived just in time for a 15-minute spectacle that, we were told, was the most popular of the various evening shows.
Performers in supposedly pre-historic garb jumped around and waved their arms. Fire spewed from various places to the accompaniment of ear-splitting shamanistic mumbo-jumbo.
Just as I was about to make a quick getaway, the act ended with a huge cascade that burst from a hillock, inundating the entire performance plaza; next, a raging torrent roared down the slopes, leaving many of the audience of Taiwanese, Koreans, Japanese and locals gaping. The show will win no plaudits for talent or choreography but it did demonstrate the technical capabilities of the Studios.
While Dream Valley specialises in evening entertainment, the World Studios presents 10-15 minute routines throughout the day in its various film sets. Each sprawling complex is in the architectural style of a specific region or historical era, and though I can’t say if the buildings are scale replicas, they must certainly come close for they are so extensive we were shuttled around in buggies.
Constructed of concrete painted to resemble wood and other traditional materials, the palaces in this land of pretend are amazingly detailed and realistic.
Were it not for the hills in the background, for example, you could have faked a visit to Beijing’s Forbidden City in the “Ming and Qing Palace” which comes complete with (concrete) marble bridges and vermilion walls. Jay Chou’s rebellious prince launched his failed uprising in Curse of the Golden Flowers here.
Time warp to the 11th century northern Song period. A “wedding” was taking place with the participation of a group of amused visitors. A little further was the “Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival” – shooting location for the popular TV series Lady Warriors of the Yang clan. Going back another 1,200 years, we arrive at the impressive Qin Palace complex. Those who have seen Zhang Yimou’s Hero, Chen Kaige’s The Emperor and the Assassin or TV serial Emperor Han Wudi will immediately recognise the cavernous 44.8m high palace hall with the large pool in the middle and the expansive plaza in front.
We missed the shows at the other shooting bases but managed to catch “Duelling Heroes” in a darkened set near the palace.
With full sound effects, including lip-sync, two wire-hung actors flew around, performing an excerpt from the classic duel between Jet Li’s Wuming and the would-be assassin in Hero.
Both the World Studios and the kitschy Dream Valley also offer glimpses of vernacular culture; besides shadow puppet plays and local opera, we watched artisans carve camphorwood into decorative items which are sold in small handicraft shops together with other local produce. Although we only managed to skim three of the filming locations that day, I left Hengdian light of heart – a little bit of escapism is good for you.
Hollywood has been instrumental in disseminating American popular culture worldwide and Bollywood is beginning to do the same for India. Ironically, though China’s definitive civilisation exerted an indelible influence on East Asia for two millennia, it has seemingly been less successful in exporting its popular culture. Perhaps Hengdian, China’s dream factory, will change that in the not-so-distant future.
> Ziying can be reached at ziyingster@gmail.com
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