Shirley Temple brought out the kid in all of us

When Shirley Temple visited China in April 1977, it did not cause a sensation. As a matter of fact, it went totally unheeded, with no media coverage or any personal account from the Chinese host.

Like many Hollywood celebrities who descended on the Middle Kingdom shortly after it opened up again to the world, she was a virtual unknown to much of its population. For almost three decades, the Chinese mainland had not screened any Hollywood pictures in public.

Eight years later, Temple, who died this week at the age of 85, became the talk of the nation as many of her major films from the 1930s were broadcast on China Central Television. This came at a time when television sets were available mostly to urban households and viewing options were limited. But still, the size of the audience was enormous in absolute number.