China on the March, Part 1

[Music] so we do you show do you home so we do you your we [Music] [Applause] [Music] my [Music] here is the map of China to the north is USSR this is India and here is Japan we sailed from Bombay via Colombo to Hong Kong from where we took the train to the Border 22 M distant and then to Canton another 80 mies Canton capital of quantum province in the south population 1,600,000 is situated on the Pearl River it is the principal Port of southern China and a big export Center has many historical parks and [Music] monuments this pillar in the yri park and this Memorial Hall are dedicated to the great leader of the democratic Revolution the late Dr sunat sen the overseas Chinese New Village built from money subscribed by returned overseas Chinese and their families after 2 days stay in Canton we proceeded by train to peaking the capital distance 1200 mil Journey time 45 hours the trains in China are comfortable and clean and usually run to shadu but top priority is given to freight trains each compartment has a loudspeaker programs consisting of entertainment news and propaganda run the whole day there are only two classes the soft and the hard traveling by either class is expensive as compared to India and is not encouraged unless necessary judging from the train it is true that flies have been practically exterminated the first glimpse of the countryside gave us the impression that every inch of land has been cultivated thousands were at work all along the Route building roads and railway tracks digging and cultivating we reached peaking on 31st August in [Music] Midsummer from the station we were taken to the city's leading Hotel the peaking Hotel most government guests foreign delegations and visitors stay here peing has quite a number of other modern hotels among them the chairman Hotel the Friendship [Music] hotel from one of the highest points in the city we got the first Bird's eyee view of peaking with its Lakes silven Parks Pavilions and pictures roofs of the Imperial palaces inside the onetime Forbidden City peing is one of the the largest cities of the world population 6 Millions an important feature of modern peaking is its wide streets and many handsome new buildings the post and Telecommunications building radio peaking the planetarium some of the main roads are wide enough for four cars to go side by side in either direction but number and so traffic jams are unknown Avenues of trees planted along most of the streets are a common feature throughout the country every Chinese we were told is expected to plant at least 80 trees we are now nearing Tian men Square where big political rallies and National Day Celebrations take place tianan men the Gate of heavenly peace is not only a building of historical interest but is now the part of the People's Republic of China the National Monument of the people's Heroes erected in 1949 Bears an inscription in Gold letters in Mai Tong's calligraphy the people's heroes are Immortal around the base are friezes depicting heroic Deeds of Freedom Fighters over the past 100 years these flags fluttering full mast on the Tian men heralded the officially sponsored Mass rally known as Taiwan day Taiwan is the Chinese name for Formosa 500,000 people gathered to demonstrate and Shout slogans pledging the liberation of [Music] thawan the members of the international Students Association who had come to p for meetings were given a rousing welcome Premier chuanl who came later received a great [Applause] Ovation the victory Gateway Tower built 400 years ago the greater part of weing still retains its oldtime character the main and modern shopping center is the Wang fuing Street most of the retail shops are still jointly owned by the government and the original owners prices and profits are strictly controlled this system is being gradually replaced by full State ownership the peaking department store the largest in the capital is state-owned the prices are higher as compared to India one Chinese Yuan is officially equal to two Indian rupees but in actual buying power it is worth 80 NAA the Summer Palace once private property of the Emperors is now the largest public park in the outskirts of peing the park covers 823 Acres 4 fths of which is a lake where people boat amidst picturesque old world surroundings about 100 ancient buildings lie scattered throughout the park this marble boat was an Emperor's excuse for appropriating the naval funds the pay high or North Lake Park with its imposing white dagoba was built 800 years ago half of pehi is water boating in summer and skating in Winter are popular pastimes the nine Dragon screen and colored tiles is one of the attractions of the park the dragon is the traditional symbol of strength and good fortune This Modern plaster sculpture is symbolic of the toiling peasants who can move mountains to build a reservoir the park has a recently built open air theater with a roof the auditorium seats 1200 and the stage is very well equipped we saw here our first peing opera the theme centers around two generals fighting a battle showing the art of pantomime in Opera somewhat like our kakali interspersed with excellent acrobatics the generals are wearing elaborate costumes [Music] [Music] [Music] if present day battles were fought like this we would not dread them as we do now W it might even be [Music] amusing the scene now shifts to the bearded General's fort [Music] [Applause] [Music] the gate is closed by the defending Army the enemy uses acrobatic tactics and enters the [Music] fort the rest is easy victory our Embassy is in an elegant part of the city a handsome building owned by our [Music] government our distinguished Ambassador Shri G [Music] parari the Imperial palaces 5 130 years old with their great inner courts and Halls golden roofs marble ballustrades and bridges and magnificent bronzes are a unique Architectural Group in the heart of [Music] peing the bronze tortois symbol of longevity and the crane are seen in many historical places this painting portrays mong's PE the heroes of the present are greater than those of the past the Hall of supreme Harmony once the throne Hall is the largest wooden structure in China the Palaces today house museums with various art Treasures Pottery exhibits of 2000 BC white engraved bronze ear 86 BC colored glazed Potter 7th Century ad Exquisite claa vases 15th century ad porcelain vases same period magnificent Jade carving Ching Dynasty 19th [Music] century carved ear of green jade same period picture in solid gold with Jade leaves on the trees same period gold ornaments used by Ching Emperors 19th century in contrast is this modern sculpture of a worker holding the universe the Temple of Heaven 500 years old here Emperors woried heaven and prayed for good harvests the interior over 100 ft high was designed according to the ancient belief that the heavens were round in the earth's [Music] Square the Magnificent structure is built on three circular marble Terraces with golden top and triple tiered blue tile roof the Temple of broad charity is a religious Center for Buddhists in peaking the majority of the Chinese are Buddhists but today though the present regime does not encourage religion it tolerates worship very few worshippers are seen in the temples mostly old [Music] people built in the 12th century ad it has beautiful statues of the budha and his disciples sacred paintings and other relics this golden miniature stupa contains a tooth of the Buddha the Llama Temple temp in peing built in 1744 during the Ching Dynasty a huge statue of Chapa the founder of the yellow sect of lamaism in another Hall stands the 75 ft High Sandalwood figure of mria the coming Buddha carved from a single tree [Music] trunk Temple of five pagodas also Buddhist was built 600 years ago on the lines of the bud Gaya Temple freezes are carved with figures representing Buddhist and Chinese symbols here again the toris basee representing longevity peing has a few old churches this is the cathedral a mosque the capital has a small community of Muslims the design different to the mosques in India is influenced by Chinese architecture the Muslim population in China is 6 Millions the majority of whom live in sang Northwest China Ching haua University built in 1911 it has considerably expanded in the last few years with an enrollment of over 10,000 students formerly it was a composite University today it is a poly Technic College specializing in 11 branches of engineering great stress is laid on physical culture colleges all over China today are residential and co-educational The Institute of Iron and Steel technology is a new setup with a student body of about 5,000 from the top of the main building one gets a panoramic view of the entire new educational District in the western suburbs of peing there are in all 16 universities and institutes with over 60,000 students all [Music] told this steel rolling shed is an extension to the Iron and Steel Institute being built by the students themselves in their spare time girl students work side by side with the boys in all activities students building their own native Style Iron and Steel furnaces 100,000 such furnaces function all over China this steel smelting Workshop is used by students for practical experience a girl on an overhead crane follows the Nationwide policy of learn and work during vacation teachers and students go to The Villages to help the small Industries to develop a number of small factories have been set up by China's universities and colleges the funds generally come from Spare Time earnings of teachers and students the revenues from these factories go to supplement the monetary grants of these colleges students also attend theoretical courses in mathematics engineering and Allied subjects peing University the oldest China established in 1898 has 8,000 students there are quite a few Asian students from countries like outer Mongolia and Korea several Indian students are learning the Chinese language and studying Chinese literature the dramatic arts music and dance are encouraged in the universities students perform for us the flower and youth folk dance of Ching haai Province the depicting the welcoming of spring and The Awakening of love [Music] party [Music] this swimming pool in the campus Grounds was dug and built by the students [Applause] themselves the central Institute for National minorities in peing is an establishment which trains Personnel for government cers in languages economics political science and the history of their own provinces or autonomous regions part of the work of the instit Ute is to improve old scripts of the various national languages some of which have no written word China has 46 National minorities which form 6% of the whole population a room in one of the dormitories students all over China do manual labor these students are working on the institute's farm in their class is they learned leninism Marxism and the Creeds and policies of the country besides their other subjects there are different sections in the dining rooms catering to National peculiarities in food rice is the staple diet of the majority and eating with chopsticks is common to all China all students have to learn in Chinese the political song how good is socialism [Music] the afro Asian students sanitarium for TB started by the China Federation of students has accommodation for 288 patients a few Indian students can be recognized here every city in China has an open air stadium peing has several this one is the largest seating 880,000 the football match between Afghanistan and China China won by 20 goals to three [Music] Premier Chan Li leaving the field after meeting the players the peing gymnasium it has three main buildings the central building has basketball volleyball tennis and badminton courts the gymnasium can seat 6,000 people and has giant electrically controled scoreboards basketball is the national game of China today popular with both [Music] sexes the indoor swimming pool also a part of the gymnasium is 164 ft by 65 ft accommodates 2,000 persons and is air and water conditioned for all the year round swimming the swimming competition in progress is between Russia and China the Russians won all contests except [Music] one the third Hall in the gymnasium is for training in various Sports [Music] the wings have modern equipment for physical culture this exercise is very much like our ly [Music] drill Sword Play is a recreation of a classical dance [Music] a common sight in many cities in China are these parachute Towers 177 ft High meant for civilians [Music] coming to the cultural life of peing Professor Quang ping who of the Chinese Research Institute for National Music plays for us on an ancient harp a 2,000 years old composition called flowing [Music] water the peaking Studio of Chinese traditional painting is a research center only Advanced students are admitted notice the traditional method of holding the brush Professor yuan is an outstanding painter of birds Professor Wu kuang Yu is famous for his portraits in traditional style Professor Chen panting 84 years old is China's leading painter in brushstroke techniques artists in China are full-time employees of the state they are often sent to the villages to paint wall posters even top artists are very low paid as compared to those in Soviet Russia the majority of the subjects today are on contemporary life or nation building activities striving for the upper reaches symbolizes the slogan exert all efforts the big Leap Forward construction of the Ming tombs Dam near peeking the actual completed Dam 1900 ft long and 95 ft High it is an earth Dam completed on 30th June 1958 the reservoir will irrigate 50,000 acres of land the following shots lent by the kind courtesy of the peaking film Bureau show the actual scenes of construction it is claimed that 400,000 people 100,000 at a time completed the dam in 160 days working Round the Clock in three shifts a day maong chut Lui Premier Chan Li and other top leaders took part in short stints the labor was contributed by people from all walks of life students servicemen office workers peasants doctors artists and so on who were released by their organizations for 15 days or more at a time receiving no extra [Music] remuneration the painting depicts the celebrations on the completion of the dam on July 1st 1958 under construction is the village for the families displaced by the building of the Ming tombs [Music] Reservoir all vehicles drawn either by animals or human beings have rubber tires a hutment of this type will accommodate two families the Ming tombs not far from the reservoir were built built between 1368 and 1644 the tomb of Emperor chenchu consists of several Pavilions and Halls situated in gardens with ancient Pines and Cedars beautiful designs decorate the walls and ceilings these massive solid Teakwood pillars are each from a single tree the grave is actually hidden under these trees to avoid pilfering of buried Treasures the parks around these tombs are now picnic spots for the people of peing these Wise Old Men inmates of a home for the Aged have come on a Sunday Excursion one rarely sees these Charming old men and women around anymore leading to the tomb of Emperor chenchu is this Avenue with a guard of 36 Stone animals and Court attendants [Music] [Applause] [Music] me Asha the elephant presented a few years ago by Mr neru to the children of China this elephant seems to be enjoying himself laes the climate of China giant pandas are rare found only in Burma Thailand and Southeast China they eat only tender bamboos brought all the way from South China amusing aren't they China is the home of many exotic fish especially the Goldfish a conducted tour of the zoo for the children of a nursery school children are well looked after by the state and received special attention in their training peing has several well equipped Children's Hospitals posters play a great part in the life of China and one sees Millions all over the country this says destroy the fly to avoid disease be strong and healthy with exercise done in colored tiles this permanent poster illustrates the slogan the big Leap Forward in all directions let us rejoice at bumper harvests exert all efforts in building socialism and Destroy old superstitions how good is the people's commune we must liberate Taiwan salute to the people of Lebanon struggling for Freedom cultivate the spirit of Communism if we can repair our trains why can't we make them Rejoice at bumper Harvest an over fulfillment of industrial production we must produce 10.7 million tons of steel in 1958 to see the industrial progress of China we visited the all China industrial exhibition this striking building built originally by the Soviet Union for their own exhibitions was later given as a gift to China we were told that 50,000 articles including models and charts were on display in the 15 large Halls China's progress in the manufacturer of consumer goods and particularly of heavy machinery has been quite considerable as can be seen in some of these exhibits power [Music] generators television cameras and receivers peing has television Cinema cameras appliances for atomic energy equipment for drilling oil [Music] wells complete chemical [Music] plants heavy presses steam generators Earth moving equipment mechanical Harvesters steam locomotives electric locomotives and the first five models of cars to be produced later next day we visited a textile mill peaking textile mill number two is one of four such Mills in the city it has 130,000 spindles and 2,500 looms we were told each Weaver manages 30 to 40 looms the mill has 5,000 workers of whom 70% are women the average wage we were informed is 50 Yan a month opposite the mill is the big colony of workers quarters the rents are very low ranging from 2 to 4 Yan a month per tenament [Music] room the home of China's most famous speaking opera star 65-year-old Dr mamah besides being the president of the peaking Opera theater and Deputy of the national people's Congress he holds many other important positions in the cultural world of China his impersonations of women's roles are famous especially that of the drunken Beauty in the Opera of that name the theme of this Opera is that one night an Emperor's favorite concubine known as the beauty is expecting a visit from the emperor on his way to her house the emperor remembers another one of his 3,000 concubines and goes to her place instead disappointed the beauty starts drinking to drown her sorrow and gets completely [Music] [Applause] drunk Dr mamar has immortalized this role by his subtle portrayal of the inner tender feelings of a woman's heart [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] country and exchanges between the communist countries are common a dance performance by the song and dance Ensemble of aeran a Muslim Republic of Soviet Russia [Music] discarding of the veil by women of [Music] aaban a wedding book dance [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] he [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] a AG in a commune a word used frequently all over China we visited the United People's commune of shush County 60 mi from ping consists of seven communes comprising over 200 Villages population 310,000 people what is a commune a commune differs from farming cooperatives in that it combines agriculture industry trade culture and education and the militia into one unit and takes charge of its political economic cultural and defense programs at the same time under this system everybody has to partake in every type of activity we saw a few tractors off and on [Music] the rice crop has been increased by Deep plowing close planting lots of chemical fertilizer and manure and adequate irrigation these fields they claim will yield 6,000 to 10,000 lb per acre besides rice they grow koling a type of millet and this is buckwhat another food grain cabbage is the most widely eaten vegetable in Cooperative farming there is no wastage of land caused by fragmentation milk has never formed a part of the diet in China as it has in India lately children are being encouraged to drink milk and livestock is being improved to get better meat when mechanical AIDS are not available for the boring of tube Wells this indigenous method is used the motive force is manpa the steel borer is made in the commune Workshop these tiny Tops sing National songs they are trained for life in a commune in their nurseries everyone drills at Dusk and Dawn each day but these are the commune militia millions of people from every Walk of Life all over China have been enlisted in the militia and are being actively trained the everyone Soldier movement is spreading even to the remotest areas young people in the militia units combine their regular work with Drilling and study these peasant militia some marching with muzzle loading guns are on their way to work in the hopai province in the north alone they say there are 7 million militia men and women a small laboratory in the commune makes fertilizer for use on the land a battery of native Style Iron and Steel furnaces in the making the native style method of producing Iron and Steel consists of heating iron ore or scrap iron in furnaces at high temperatures combustion is maintained by blowing air from an electrically worked P P the pure iron in the ore melts and is channeled into molds slightly larger furnaces producing iron the slogan here says discover the secrets of Nature and gain happiness both Chinese and Roman scripts are used the commune Factory consists of a small Foundry and a casting section to make simple tools and machines here are about a thousand Young overseas Chinese sent from different cities to live in the commune and learn and work [Music] here we are back in peing that night we saw a performance by Chinese artists and musicians of the famous Russian ballet the V Lake produced under the supervision of Russian experts [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] Korean dance performed by the Eastern section of the peaking down School [Music] so [Music] [Music] come on [Music] good [Music] I [Music]