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Village and River Scenes - China C1932/33

Rural China seen through the lens of a British amateur filmmaker in the 1930s.

Amateur film 1932 4 mins Silent

Overview

These shakily shot but fascinating scenes of harvesting and irrigation were among a set of amateur films shot by Dr Reginald Clay, a retired London teacher who travelled to China in the early 1930s. Dr Clay visited Beijing (then known as Peking) before staying with his daughter, a medical missionary, in Shanghai. His notes suggest the rural scenes were filmed at a place he calls T'sang Chow, south of Beijing.