Henan Special - Chinadaily.com.cn

Henan Special

The reel people

[2011-06-01 08:21]

After the chaotic "cultural revolution" (1966-1976), during which more than 300 Chinese movies were banned, filmmakers could not wait for a new era to begin. Taboo films were screened again and audiences flocked to movie theaters with great passion. In 1979, more than 29 billion cinema tickets were sold and one of the nation's most popular magazines, Popular Cinema, had a monthly circulation of more than 9 million.

Time Line

[2011-06-01 08:21]

1981: China Film Association initiates the Golden Rooster Awards.

Talent rises from every generation

[2011-06-01 08:21]

As a China Daily reporter, I was lucky to have covered film events from the early 1980s to the late 1990s, an important period for the rising Chinese film industry.

Peaks and troughs through the decades

[2011-06-01 08:21]

Over three decades, Chinese cinema has played out like a typical three-act blockbuster. In 1979 the spurt of re-releases and new offerings pushed ticket sales to 29.31 billion yuan, a record unlikely to be topped. Fifteen years later, film attendance plummeted to just 1 percent of that record and movie theaters were converted to furniture stores, among other uses, as audiences stayed home to watch television or pirated videos.

The write stuff

[2011-06-01 08:21]

The image of a long queue outside the small campus bookstore lingers in the memory of writer Zhao Lihong. He was a student at Shanghai-based East China Normal University from 1977 to 1981 and Chinese literature was his major. "Students and faculty would line up each morning for new books, even before the bookstore started business," Zhao, 60, recalls. "Books were always in short supply."

Time Line

[2011-06-01 08:21]

1980s: Only a few dozen new novels are published each year.

Novelists enjoying prime time

[2011-06-01 08:21]

The shift from collective consciousness to an increasingly personal perception of life characterizes the general trajectory of the past 30 years of Chinese literature.

Where are today's great writers?

[2011-06-01 08:21]

Thirty years after China's literature began to develop in new and exciting directions, the general consensus of Chinese public opinion seems to be that it's not nearly exciting enough. No one doubts the achievements of the Chinese economy but the achievements of Chinese literature are less obvious.