Wanderings in Peking

Taimiao (Imperial Ancestral Temple)
1939
Silent
11m

These wanderings of an amateur filmmaker take in city streets, markets and Chinese acrobats in lively 1930s Beijing.

This captivating and richly detailed film of 1930s Beijing (then Peking) was shot by a British scholar studying in China. His wandering camera captures vivid snapshots of a lively city: trams jostling with camels and motorcars, a herd of sheep by the Qianmen gate, lantern shops outside the Forbidden City and vibrant street markets where vendors peddle hot snacks and acrobats perform for a jolly crowd.

The film was made by Sidney Howard Hansford, who went on to become Professor of Chinese Art and Archaeology at the University of London and Fellow of the School of Oriental and African Studies. Hansford was deeply interested in the subjects he filmed, though his pictures are also touristic. It's fascinating to see his fellow European students enjoying a day at the races and relaxing at a country house, in among the Beijing street scenes.

Beijing - Northern Capital

Beijing's ancient streets and palaces come alive in a collection of fascinating and often beautiful travelogues and home movies shot between 1908 and 1939.

Beijing has been at the heart of China's political and cultural life for almost a thousand years. Though much of its ancient fabric is preserved, swathes of the city were lost in decades of urban regeneration projects. So these films from the first half of the 20th century open a window on to the city's lost past. Chinese filmmakers weren't active when the earliest films of Beijing (then known as Peking) were made, so these British and European films are among the only moving images of that time.

Thanks to these pioneering cameramen, we can witness everyday life in the last years of the Qing dynasty, make our way from the European quarter of the city to the magnificent Forbidden Palace and the bustling Grand Canal, or roam the streets around the Qianmen gate. These often amateur cinematographers offer us a fresh look at a majestic and complex city, from the palaces and pagodas of Beihai Park, a trek around the Great Wall with intrepid honeymooners, to a cruise down the Grand Canal to Shanghai. This may be a Beijing seen through western eyes, but they are the eyes of a rapt enthusiast, not a jaded tour guide.