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Town, Country & Seaside Life Round about Swatow Chaochowfu

An inquisitive amateur filmmaker captures a fascinating portmanteau of local industries in China's Guangdong Province.

Amateur film 1935 11 mins Silent

Overview

This captivating film does not just offer a remarkable snapshot of local industries but also of the domestic life that surrounds them, such as the children on the beach. Perhaps even more intriguing for the modern viewer is that the handheld, point-of-view camera transports you into the direct perspective of a tourist in 1930s China, and the range of glances and glares directed towards you.

Swatow is today more commonly known as Shantou, a city on the eastern coast of Guangdong province. The neighbouring city of Chaozhou (Chaochow) is also part of the region visited by the filmmaker.