Witness a new dawn: A Crumbling Old Shanghai
To mark the 72nd anniversary of the liberation of Shanghai, the city has launched six episodes on the subject.
The documentary series presents the story of the city's liberation from the perspective of the westerners who were in Shanghai in 1949, including diplomats, journalists, doctors and businessmen.
The short films also use English historical material. Besides reports from The New York Times, the Associated Press and Reuters at the time, they also features reports from local English-language newspapers, such as the North China Daily News and The Millard's Review, as well as memoirs, diaries and unpublished oral histories of those who were living in Shanghai at the time.
"I'm going to tell a story that almost no foreigners have ever told," said American professor Andrew Field, guest host of the film series. Field has a background in East Asian history and has lived in Shanghai for more than 20 years.
Professor Andrew Field is guest host of the series of short films.
Second episode: A Crumbling Old Shanghai
The buildings on the Bund look similar. But the picture reveals the old Shanghai. Poor men's sampan filled Suzhou Creek; foreign warships moored in the Huangpu River. Photos taken by Harrison Forman on the ground was more revealing. Rampant corruption, run-away inflation, the city was in total chaos.
Time went back three years. In 1946, the ruling nationalist government restarted the civil war against the communists while the country was still recovering from deep turmoil caused by World War II.
By 1949, the nationalist government had lost control of half of China and most of its American-trained-and-equipped elite troops. Military defeat brought along more economic squeeze.
When a government disregards its people's welfare, history will make its own choice.
