Nation's first movie studio transformed into museum

Visitors to the museum include not only local Chinese but also foreign tourists. [Photo by Qiu Zhaomin/for China Daily]

Tourists flood into the museum keen to see classic movie scenes that bring back old memories.

A senior film fan said what he loved about the museum was that it reminded him of the good old days.

"For me and people of my generation, the films that Changying produced were the best of our childhood and teenage years," he recalled. "Yet I have never visited the studio personally, nor did I ever have the chance to learn about the stories behind the films. The studio has lots of our memories collected now."

The film art gallery reproduced several classic scenes from China's most popular films since the 1950s by broadcasting film soundtracks and creating statues of major film characters.

For visitors in their twenties or younger, who are not familiar with the old films, the studio is not very appealing, which is a challenge for the old-film-themed museum.

In order to attract younger visitors, the museum established a series of interactive programs.

For example, in the interaction zone for the naval battle of 1894, visitors can stand on a stimulated deck to feel the strike to the Japanese cruiser The Yoshino.

In the film gallery on the second floor, visitors can watch the film that they are interested in simply by touching a screen and putting on headphones.

The gallery has a collection of more than 200 films from between 1949 and 2003. Visitors can also look at how each film was dubbed and translated and can have a go at being a voice dubbing actor.