The attached documentary was shot around Tianamen square in 1972 by an Italian camera crew. This is just after the CulturalRevolution. It's a very interesting look. And "look" adequately describes it as the narration is very sparce and in Italian. Instead the film focuses on the people and what they are doing.It also is a great look at how things have changed...and at bicycles of course.
Perhaps the skyline is the first thing I notice. None of the towering buildings that are currently around Beijing are there. Of course in 1972, Chaoyang and the Central Business District were farm fields. In regards to construction, Mao's Mausoleum is not present...because, of course, he wasn't even dead yet.
Next you notice all the uniforms....many, many uniforms. Communism was in full swing after all.
At about 3:22, the camera turns to the traffic on Chang An Jie. With the exception of a few Liberator trucks and Shanghai cars, the trafffic is mostly bikes and trikes. The traffic may seem pretty dense in terms of bikes, but I suspect it is only slightly more than now. The reason? Several. Bike production didn't hit it's peak until the 1980s and in 1972 you had to be fairly rich to own one. Also the population of the city was much less back then because urbanization had not even begun to be felt.
At 5:37 there is a rather unique clip of a man doing Tai Chi while pedaling his 28" Flying Pigeon Roadster. Quite a stunt!
At 6:40 you get a look at a small convoy of trikes carrying (presumably empty) fuel drums.
At 7:01 a "bus" appears. It is a Liberator truck...standing room only. You can see why bicycles were so prized!
Very fascinating stuff indeed.
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