On Current TV | October 28, 2008 | Comment on this video (15)

Beijing History Lesson

raskin
The Chinese government has slowly been overhauling Beijing to erase any memory of the cities past. In this story, Zack Mexico will go deep into Beijing's Hutongs, the little courtyards which use to make up Chinese cities, to find out about the citie's communal history and how that's being quickly erased from memory....
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15 comments // Beijing History Lesson // Video

  • SteveAdams
    • 0
      SteveAdams  

    • Good for people who may know little about China, but anyone with a smattering of knowledge of Beijing (e.g. those who watched some of the Olympics) know all this already.

      Facile. Superficial.

    • 2 years ago
  • BooksBrown
  • mistarmookie
  • Kanut
    • Kanut [removed]  
    • This comment was removed as a violation of community guidelines.
  • raskin
  • raskin
  • DaZed_But_Not_Broken
    • 0
      DaZed_But_Not_Broken  

    • I recently returned from a 14 day visit to China. I admit that I am ignorant about Chinese culture, and that I did a tourist style trip, and I do not speak Chinese. But was fascinated by the Hutong I could see out of my hotel room window in Beijing and the sense of community I witnessed. It was only when I climbed the Great Wall that I experienced a sense of community and friendship with the Chinese people, which was much different than my walks on the streets of Beijing. I would hate to see the Chinese people lose this way of life, as we have in the US. I have lived in the same suburb for 8 years, and still only have 1 neighbor who I have regular interactions and conversations with. I think that the American people could learn from understanding the sense of community and family that is expressed by the people living in these communities in China.

    • 3 years ago
  • howhispering
    • 0
      howhispering  

    • I love China. Socialism is the key. Capitalism is too flawed. Exxon Mobil made over 10 billion in profits in the last quarter. That is so sad. I would tax them so severely. They will still make a profit but not that much. If they would only make 3 billion in the same quarter everyone is happy and the US doesn't have to cut after school programs.

    • 3 years ago
  • researchALLwars
  • BooksBrown
    • 0
      BooksBrown  

    • why were all the photos necessary when you have a video camera to document the movement of the Chinese. On the one hand, I suspect you guys can stay very busy producing pods of this sort for Current...on the other hand, regular viewers of your content might start expecting more from you while in China. Don't turn the camera off and get more footage...it's great to get a look at China from your crews perspective.

    • 3 years ago
  • raskin
    • 0
      raskin  
    • BooksBrown:

      Well, there were only 25 seconds of photos in there, which isn't much for a piece that is 3:30.

      Panning across still photography has become a staple of the documentary format - look at the work of Errol Morris or Ken Burns (who the effect is actually named after now in some editing programs!)

      And yes, we just didn't have much time to work with on that one. Sorry dude.

    • 3 years ago
  • BooksBrown
    • 0
      BooksBrown  
    • BooksBrown:

      no doubt. i thought you might appreciate a critical comment from somebody whose watched all of your pods from china to date. as i've mentioned in previous comments, i've had the good fortune of spending a summer in Beijing and Shanghai...so I'm watching these pods a little more closely than others.

      as it relates to production productivity, though, i'm still curious as to why you wouldn't have loads of china b-roll footage? isn't it more costly to license photos?

      at any rate, keep it up...you guys are clearly on and onto something here.

    • 3 years ago
  • bdub4u
    • 0
      bdub4u  

    • man, yall are the shit, sign me up, i speak chinese, i know a ton of history, culture, etc. I am versed in poly sci, world history, eastern and western philosophy. plus I can rap, seriously, i spit fire in several languages. Man I have always wanted to do something like this! Zachery! Sign Me Up Bro!!! Chinabound1986@gmail.com

    • 3 years ago
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