This black & white educational film is about life in China, the Japanese invasion of China, and Chinese Nationalist efforts to defend itself against the Japanese aggression. This film was made in 1937 as part of an effort to raise awareness in the then-neutral USA about Japanese intentions in the Far East .

Opening titles: Guaranteed Pictures presents THIS IS CHINA (:07-:48). A map of China. 450 Million people. Yangtze Kiang River leads to the China Sea. Yangtze Valley, boat on the river. River houses on the sides of the river. Children. Girls of Yangtze. Children eat. Missions take in the girls until they are old enough to marry. Soil is rich. Oxen nearby as peasants work near the water. A poor Chinese village. A woman works. A man named Wong holds tools. A man smokes. He sits with his wife and children and they eat rich. His daughter has rice and only rice as does his wife. Wong grabs his tools and goes to work in the field (:49-4:58). Guards guard a wall. Soldiers come into a village. Soldiers on a train. Wong and his fellow villagers grab their goods and families and flee the village to get away from the Japanese troops. People, water buffalo, wagons, all flee (4:59-6:37). Boats on water. Men and women on small and large boats. Peasants making do. Men row a boat. Oars in the water. Men move a boat with their feet, making the boat rotor propel. Men bicycle to keep water flowing in the fields. Men do backbreaking work by dragging a boat to shore on wet sand. Men pull very hard on ropes. Men lift heavy bags of food, from a boat to a wagon. Men then pull the wagon forward. Men carry large crates and transport goods. A man laid out on the roadside, he’s dead. A coffin is carried. A ship has a bunch of coffins on it. A man lights a stick on fire (6:38-10:56). Chinese villagers work in a field on the poppy flowers. Hands cultivate the poppy seeds. A woman kneels in a concrete temple. A woman carries a baby. Incense at a doorway. A man drags a sick man. A dead man laid out in a doorway, his hat nearby. Nurses in a hospital in a big city. A Red Cross ambulance. Dead are carried away in a village. Inhabitants wait to be inoculated. Doctors inject villagers with needles, including children (10:57-13:37). Long plains of inner Mongolia. Mongolians on horses. Horses graze on grass. A woman with cattle. A woman milks a cow. A woman wears a heavy ornament on her head. Men drink inside a tent. A woman is married on a windy day. The bride goes inside the tent and meets her in-laws and her soon to be husband. She greets them all. Men drink and then place down their cups (13:38-16:10). Japanese soldiers get ready. They want Mongolia. A man on horseback in the distance. Inside a tent, Mongolian Chieftains meet to discuss how they can turn back the Japanese. A person readies a horse. Men play instruments and then pray. Some men kiss the ground as they want peace. Camels wind down tracks and men with wagons move down them as well. The gates to a building are shut in the evening and open in the morning to prevent attack. Japanese troops approaching Peking is in the hands of the Japanese. Temples (16:11-19:50). Buddha statues. Priests in their temples, a poor woman at the river’s edge. A boat is rowed by men. Busy Chinese street. People walk the city. A man writes a letter on the streets. School is in session, children learn and write (19:51-21:42). Boys in school rise and then sit when an adult enters. Girl students sing. Children walk and stretch. Rickshas pulled by boys. Busy streets with people, cars, buses and rickshas. Japanese flag, Japanese plane in the sky. The Great Wall of China. Chinese man arrested by Japanese troops. Japanese invaders fire cannons. A Chinese village is destroyed and on fire. A Chinese woman speaks. She rallies some people to fight Japan. Chinese troops. A Chinese village, the next day it is in smoky ruins having been burned and bombed. Men go through the rubble seeking survivors, a man is carried. A Chinese busy street. Japanese troops and Chinese refugees leave en masse. Women carry babies. Chinese regiments are ready. Soldiers on horseback (21:43-25:57). End credits (25:58-26:05).

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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