Changchun.

Sets, Soundtracks and Seven Clay Models

In Changchun, films and cars took shape through decisions made in workshops. A miniature broken bridge let a crew build a railway story for the screen; dubbing a foreign film into Chinese meant fitting speech back to moving images; and the Hongqi CA770 advanced through seven clay proposals before a full-size model. Nearby, Xinmin Street’s former administrative buildings acquired new medical, educational and everyday public uses. Each story follows a different kind of making, from a timed line to a changing city block.

A Bridge Built for the Camera

Film cameras and production equipment in a museum display.

Film cameras and production equipment at the Changchun Film Studio Museum.

Making The Bridge: Harbin Workshops, Changchun Studios

The Bridge turned railway factory work into a film story, then used Changchun studio space to stage a broken bridge at miniature scale. Its production links an inherited film campus to a postwar crew building new methods.

The Bridge transformed railway factory work into a film scene, using studio space to stage a broken crossing at miniature scale. A companion story follows the timing work that made a foreign performance speak Chinese on screen.

A vintage microphone stands beside a screen in a film-dubbing exhibit.

Making a Foreign Film Speak Chinese

Film-dubbing equipment on display at the Changchun Film Studio Museum.

The Northeast Film Studio’s 1949 Chinese-language version of The Ordinary Soldier required translators and performers to fit spoken Chinese into the moving image. A stopwatch helped expose the timing mismatch; revised wording and delivery made the scene speak naturally.

Seven Models, One Car

Seven Clay Models and the Shape of the Hongqi CA770

The Hongqi CA770 took shape through seven clay proposals, factory-wide review and a full-size model made under difficult workshop conditions. Jia Yanliang and Wang Zhen recall different parts of the design, while a later university-published design-history review places the sedan programme and its delivery milestones in a longer chronology.

The CA770’s clay proposals opened a practical debate about the sedan’s form. Factory-wide review and a full-size model brought design into the workshop, where material choices could be seen and discussed.

A Former Avenue in Present Use

Xinmin Street After the Ministries

Xinmin Street’s former State Council building embodied a Japanese-backed administration before becoming a medical teaching building. Its 2025 renewal connected courtyards and pocket parks to everyday walking routes while the avenue kept its university, hospital and museum uses.

Xinmin Street’s ministries belonged to an earlier administration; the same avenue later took on hospital, teaching, museum and daily walking uses. Read the change through specific buildings and their present roles.

Photo credits and rights

Film cameras and production equipment at the Changchun Film Studio Museum.Photo/Changchun Film Studio · Rights status unknown Photo source ↗
Film-dubbing equipment on display at the Changchun Film Studio Museum.Photo/Changchun Film Studio · Rights status unknown Photo source ↗