The Media Library of Genesee Valley BOCES

Because of climatic differences, The North of China grows wheat, the South, rice. We see the differences in cultures, farming methods, food, economies, and leisure activities between a northern and southern village. With the return of private enterprise, the economy and standard of living are improving

The valley of the Yangzi River has some of China's most productive farmland. The periodic flooding brings both rich fertile soil and devastation. Dikes have failed to contain the river. To regulate the water flow and generate electricity, the monumental Three Gorges Dam is under construction. Its construction will take at least 10 years and will create a 400 mile-long lake behind it, submerging historic temples and relocating millions to less fertile ground

Looks at the environmental consequences of the major deforestation that took place in China in the 1940s and 1950s when there was major clear cutting of forests, including floods, the impact on agriculture, and the lack of bio-diversity

Shanghai, with its 15 million people, is the largest city in China. Historically, it is the port city of the Yangzi River, the major cross country east/west transportation route. Now, modern apartments and offices are replacing slums. We follow what the new urban development of Shanhai means for a fourteen year-old girl who has been living in a slum building, a nineteen year-old electrician and a welder who is helping to construct buildings, and a 24 year-old professional woman working for a Japanese bank. Many who live there study at night to advance themselves

In the village of Fengxing, north of Shanghai, what was once a Communist factory making bicyle parts, is now a large shoe factory which exports to Japan and the United States, and is in the process of being privatized. A young local worker lives at home in far better conditions than her grandmother did in a straw and mud house. A young "migrant" worker lives in a dormitory with other girls from distant villages. Such factories are called Township or Village Enterprises, and it is one of many

Program 23: China's metropolitan heartland (30 min.) Program 24: The booming maritime edge (30 min.)

Two thousand years ago, Chinese refugees in the mountains of Yunnan Province invented terraced rice paddies in order to plant their crops. The tradition continues to this day with the help of the water buffalo

A well written and illustrated account of the myriad of factors that fostered western expansion into Asia, with thoughtful commentary on the ways East-West contacts stimulated change in each social system

Takes viewers to China to examine a mummy site, probe secrets of Chinese medicine, wade in the rice paddy's and explore the Three Gorges Dam

Program 21: Urban and rural contrasts (30 min.). Program 22: Life in China's frontier cities (30 min.)