Major News

Silk Road makes its way to US

By Luo Hongyan (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2011-05-17 16:36

A Chinese media company has showcased the ancient city of Xi’an at a film festival in the United States.

The University of Pennsylvania invited the Qujiang Film and TV Investment Group to show Chinese documentary films at the festival, which took place on May 13.

The New Silk Road, one of the movies on show, was well-received, transporting audiences back to the Tang Dynasty of the 7th to 10th century.

The film brought to life the prosperity of ancient Xi’an, then Chang’an, the historic capital of 13 dynasties and the start point of the famed Silk Road trade route, which linked Asia and Europe.

The film follows events during a 15,000 kilometer, 55 day journey along the Silk Road, taken as part of an application for UNESCO World Heritage status.

Geographical and cultural highlights of the ancient trading route, famed for its passage of Chinese silk, are explored, starting at the ruins of the Daming Palace,then crossing the Hexi Corridor in Gansu province and Xinjiang and passing through parts of Russia and the Middle East, before converging on the final destination of Rome.

The Daming Palace, another movie which premiered at the festival, also gave audiences a glimpse back in time to the majesty of the Tang Dynasty,taking them inside the royal palace.

Directed by famous Chinese director Jin Tiemu, this ambitious documentary took three years to complete at a cost of 15 million yuan.

A cultural seminar, which focused on studies of the Silk Road, kicked off after the documentary showings. Zhao An, chairman of Qujiang Film and TV Investment Group, along with He Jianchao and Wu Chun, of the Cultural Relics Protection Office of Qujiang Daming Palace Ruins, debated theories with other history experts.

This is not the first time Pennsylvania University, one of the oldest of its kind in the United States, has worked collaboratively with Chinese representatives.

The University’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology is home to an impressive collection of Middle Eastern and Asian relics,including the Chinese cultural treasures of Saluzi and Quanmaogua, two of six stone sculptures depicting the war horses of Li Shiming, who became the first emperor of the Tang Dynasty.

Stolen from the Zhao mausoleum and smuggled overseas in the 20th century, the sculptures were damaged and, last year, the University invited relic restoration experts from the Tang Dynasty Daming Palace Foundation in Shaanxi Province to jointly repair them to their former glory. The restoration work achieved great success half a year later.

While in the country, the Qujiang Film and TV Investment Group is expected to meet with some US-based film production institutions to discuss opportunities for future cooperation on film projects.