“China on the March” (c.1959) is a black-and-white travelogue-style film written and narrated by Indian journalist Enakshi Bhavnani and produced by her husband Mohan Bhavnani. The 130-minute film documents the 12,000-mile journey the Bhavanis took with two cameramen across China at the invitation of the China-Indian Friendship Association. The film emphasizes the various modernizing and industrial advancements in each city during the years of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) economic and social campaign called “The Great Leap Forward” (1958-1962) which sought to reconstruct the country from an agrarian economy to an industrial one. This particular installment shows the last 40 minutes of the film, which begins in Peking and ends in Shanghai, covering Northwestern China and Uyghur provinces.

Film opens, “Chinese variety art” performance consisting of acrobatic acts like plate spinning, bicycle riding, pole balancing (0:07-4:03). Peking Dance School “Flower-Drum Dance” performance combining folk music and dance from Anhui Province (4:04). Martyrs’ Memorial Hall (Shijiazhuang): Memorials of Dr. Dwarkanath Kotnis, Dr. Norman Bethune (5:58). Exterior Dr. Bethune International Peace Hospital (6:30). Female traffic officer directs cars in Luoyang (6:41). White Horse Temple; Buddhist relics and grave of Monk Kasyapa Matanga and Dharmarakṣa (6:48). Qiyun Pagoda (7:10). Industrial advancements in Luoyang: Inside tractor plant (7:17). Soviet-backed Boying Bearing factory, interior shots of assembly line, men operating large machinery, women conducting inspection (7:42). Longmen Grottoes/ “Dragon Gate” Caves, Lu She Na Buddha (8:51). Yellow River and Sanmen Gorge, building efforts for dam (9:48). Bell Tower of Xi’an (11:19). People’s Grand Hotel Xi’an (11:28). Print of Buddhist monk Xuanzang on trip back from India to China carrying Buddhist scrolls (11:33). Giant Wild Goose Pagoda (11:49). Xuanzang Tomb Pagoda (12:02). Yaodong Cave Dwellings (12:14). Lanzhou built up on banks of Yellow River, traditional mud houses process (12:35). Lanzhou Oil Refinery, oil from Yumen Oil Fields (13:15). Scenes from Ürümqi, capital of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (13:42). Ürümqi Mosque, Muslims praying (14:18). Sequence portraits of various ethnic groups in the city: Uyghur, Kazakhs, Tajiks, Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, Tatars (14:25). Women seen carrying out one of the traditional crafts of city, embroidered cap (Doppa) (14:38). Shop selling traditional folk instruments (Tembor) (14:58). Vendor in Xinjiang sells large “desert melon” (15:15). Desert, scrub dotted landscape of Xinjiang (15:32). Women pick cotton in field, major crop of area (15:52). Nearby Chinese Communist party (CCP) People’s Commune; Men and women cultivate grain using mechanized methods (16:11). Performance of Uyghur dance and song at Xinjiang People’s Theater: “Melon Dance,” “Tambourine Dance,” “Red Flower Dance” (17:05). Shots of another People’s Commune, cattle and sheep herded across vast plane (23:19). Scenes of daily life: People are Kazakh Muslims of Mongolian origin, live in pitched tents similar to yurts, ride on horses or Bactrian camel, village gathers to observe main sport of horse racing (24:02). City scenes around Chongqing: Great Hall of the People (26:36). Views along Yangtze River journey to Wuhan (27:01). Yangsigang Yangtze River Bridge (27:37). Wuhan Iron and Steel Company plant (28:10). Camera pans West Lake in Hangzhou (29:05). Shangri la Hotel Hangzhou (29:18). Lingyin Temple, Buddha carved by East China Fine Arts Institute (29:21). Men and women in workshop create silk brocade and tapestry works, other shots of mechanized looms (29:40). Botanical garden showing off flower blooms, Hangzhou chrysanthemums (30:06). Sun Yat-Sen Mausoleum in Nanking (30:27). Various panoramic, aerial views of busy seaport city of Shanghai (30:57). Sino-Soviet Friendship Building (31:36). Exhibition and display of textiles, textile machinery, china ware, porcelain, and handicrafts (31:44). Filming on set at Seagull Studio, actress Madame Chiang kai-shek (32:18). Lu Xun Park and Museum (32:42). Children at state run nursery and garden (33:15). Children run around in garden of China Welfare Institute founded by Soong Ching Ling (34:00). Shanghai Children Palace, children in drawing and embroidery class, radio mechanics, dance performance of “Turnip Dance,” puppet show (34:48). Performance of “Lotus Dance,” “Lion Dance” by Shanghai Workers Dance and Dramatic Group (29:04). Closing credits (42:58). Film ends (43:01).

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com