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Chinese Movies

Selling the Ruan Lingyu Drama: Tragedy, Irony, and Exploitation in a 1934 Ad

March 8 - On the anniversary of the death of Old Shanghai’s movie goddess, Ruan Lingyu, MOFBA* delves into the story of an ad that is inextricably linked with the actress, her final movie, and her tragic death. By The Little Museum of Foreign Brand Advertising in the R.O.C (MOFBA) // The 1930s marked the first ...

Vintage Shanghai Comedy: “Da Li, Xiao Li & Lao Li 大李,小李和老李“

There are so many reasons to love this 1962 screwball comedy - let us count the ways: Scenes of 1960s Shanghai. You think images of 1930s Shanghai are rare? Try 1962, the year the Great Leap Forward ended. This is a rare film documentation of the period, including what may be the only existing footage of the Art Deco ...

Shanghai’s Hidden Ming Temple

In a narrow lane off the Nanjing Road pedestrian street stands a small, shabby box of a building. It’s no match for the flash and buzz of the famous street, yet its powers are so mighty that it has remained part of Shanghai life since the Ming Dynasty. On the roof, a plain red sign with two bright yellow ...