Ningxia Travel Notes (3)

Zhenbeibao Western Film and Television City

The origin of Zhenbeibao Western Film and Television City

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Zhenbeibao was the Ming and Qing dynasty’s defense against the Mongols and other A military fortress invaded by ethnic minorities, with troops stationed inside. Among them are two ancient castles, Mingcheng (old city) and Qingcheng (new city). Among them, in the fifth year of Qianlong's reign, a major earthquake occurred in Ningxia, causing Mingcheng to be beyond recognition and ruins everywhere. Later, Emperor Qianlong ordered a new city to be built not far from Ming City, which is the modern Qing City. After liberation, the two castles lost their military value. In the 1950s, large-scale steel smelting was carried out here, and later they became sheep pens for herdsmen to graze and rest. As early as the 1960s, the famous writer Zhang Xianliang, who was wrongly classified as a right-wing reformer in the farm because of "The Big Wind Song", discovered this Feng Shui treasure land and introduced it to friends in the film and television industry in the 1980s. Since the 1980s, since the film "The Wrangler" directed by Xie Jin and starring Cong Shan and Zhu Shimao was successfully shot in Zhenbeibao and won the "Hundred Flowers Award", the film and television wizard Zhang Yimou directed the film "Red Sorghum" here again, which was the first time for this film to be filmed in Zhenbeibao. On the podium of the "Berlin Golden Bear". Gong Li and Jiang Wen were also lucky enough to emerge from the ruins of this ancient castle and become famous movie stars. The film "The Ballad of the Yellow River" directed by Teng Wenji won another international award - the "Montreal Gold Medal" for its mysterious charm of the castle. With the keen business acumen of a southerner (Zhang Xianliang was originally from Xuyi, Jiangsu Province), he founded Ningxia Huaxia Western Film and Television City Co., Ltd. in 1993, commonly known as "Western Film and Television City".

Star Wall

At the entrance of the Western Film and Television City, there is a "Star Wall". It is constructed from a large piece of imitation Yellow River stone. More than 100 celebrities from Ningxia are displayed on the stone. Beautiful photos of contemporary directors and movie stars who have made films: there are internationally renowned directors Xie Jin, Zhang Yimou, Feng Xiaogang, Feng Xiaoning, etc.; there are veteran artists Liu Xiaoqing, Siqin Gaowa, etc.; there are screen tough guys Liang Xiaolong, Jet Li, Donnie Yen and martial arts stars; there are Beautiful photos of popular movie stars Gong Li, Ge You, Zhang Jiayi and many other movie stars. Standing under the boulder, familiar faces on the screen are displayed in front of you, communicating at close range like real people, which makes people can't help but admire this ancient, primitive, rough and desolate place.

There are many cultural relics and historical sites, movie shooting scenes, and props in the film and television city. I am not an expert or scholar and it is impossible for me to use professional terms to describe them all. Of course, it is impossible to describe them vividly. I can only describe them as an ordinary tourist. I will give a brief description of several scenes in which I have deep feelings.

Qingcheng

The filming location of the movie "Westward Journey (Moonlight Box)"

Qingcheng is the main filming location of the movie "Westward Journey (Moonlight Box)". The film is directed by Hong Kong director Liu Chunwei and stars the king of nonsensical comedies Stephen Chow, Yin Zhu, Karen Mok and many other Hong Kong stars. It has fascinated many boys and girls with its love dialogue that moves the world and makes people cry. Now there are at least two obvious props: Entering Qingcheng, Zhizunbao (played by Stephen Chow) and Fairy Zixia (played by Zhu Yin) stand opposite each other on the walls on both sides of a city tower. The two look at each other affectionately. This is the last scene of the movie "Westward Journey". Tang Monk leads his three disciples on horseback to leave the city to the west. Wukong imagines a love affair five hundred years ago. After watching it, people feel as if they are there, as if they are meeting the people. It seems that they have also entered the film, which is in line with the saying of the film and television city, "When you come, you are a tourist, when you leave, you are a star." Another scene is in the Mansion of the Bull Demon King. ’s back garden, when Fairy Zixia pointed her sword at Zhizunbao’s throat, Zhizunbao said a touching words: “At that time, the sword was only 0.01 centimeters away from my throat, but after 1/4 candle incense, I will make the mistress of that sword fall deeply in love with me! Because I decided to make a fool of myself. Although I have made countless mistakes in my life, I think this one is the most classic. You should do it too. I should die. There was a sincere love in front of me, but I didn't cherish it. I regretted it when I lost it. The most painful thing in the world is to cut my throat with your sword. ! No need to hesitate anymore! If God can give me another chance, I will say three words to that girl: I love you.

If I have to add a time limit to this love, I hope it is... ten thousand years..." It sounds like a joke, and the tourists around also imitated this action and took photos, but they spoke of the ancient times in their laughter. The true meaning of the idiom "eachother" is still very touching.

Hotel

There is a dead tree in front of the hotel, with a wooden wheel tied to it, and one side facing the wind hanging on the branch. A waiter wearing a cloth hat and a white towel draped over his shoulders stood outside the door to attract customers, shouting "Boss!" Are you staying or closing? "You must have often seen this scene in movies or TV series. Today, the scene in the movie is truly reproduced. Can it not make people feel immersed in it? As for the ancient carriages filled with wine jars to transport wine, tofu mills, The tin wine pots are all lifelike and vivid.

The ancient examination room

Not far from the back garden of the Bull Demon King is the examination room where scholars in ancient times competed for fame. The rows of wooden tiled houses are divided into small houses of three or four square meters. There is a white paper similar to the exam number posted in front of the door. There are two long wooden boards of different heights placed across the room, similar to our current tables and chairs, "tables" There are wooden book boxes and bamboo slips with test questions on it. I heard from the tour guide that during the ancient examination period, scholars would take exams and live in this small examination room (eating, drinking and sleeping in it). When the examination results were not released, they could not leave the examination room. We can imagine how hard it was for the candidates in ancient times to win the fame. It is no wonder that the candidates were so proud that their horses were hoofed after winning the fame, and they felt disappointed, desolate and unable to recover after losing their fame.

A genius among writers. —Mr. Zhang Xianliang

I read Mr. Zhang’s masterpiece when I was in high school. Later, I watched the movies “Shorbrak” (with the same name as the novel) and “The Dark One” adapted from Mr. Zhang’s masterpiece. "The Cannon Incident" (the novel "Romantic Black Cannon"). My impression of the old man is that his works mainly reflect the social reality during the Cultural Revolution, that is, scar literature. Now that I have a brief understanding of the old man's life, I can better understand his creations. Background. The old man was born in 1936. In 1957, he wrote the poem "Song of the Wind" and rose to prominence in the literary world. However, it also became the beginning of his life's nightmare. Because of this poem, he was mistakenly classified as a rightist as a young and promising man. He was not classified as a rightist until 1979. To be honest, he has been living a life of labor reform, control, imprisonment, and exile for more than 20 years. Just imagine how many 20 years his life could last. He experienced the Cultural Revolution personally and spent it in purgatory. How could he write such profound things? , Works that promote human development? This is clearly reflected in the scene of "Greening Tree" in Mingcheng. In the 1980s and 1990s, with the east wind of reform and opening up, this horse was finally able to gallop into the literary world and wrote "Men's". Style", "Getting Used to Death", "Half of a Man Is a Woman" and other popular and thought-provoking works. According to common sense, the writer should wash his hands and rest in peace for the rest of his life. However, the wise business acumen of southerners made him The treasure of Zhenbeibao was discovered in this desolate place in Ningxia. After his hard work, it finally bore the fruit of "Chinese movies go to the world from here" - the Western Film and Television City, which is closely related to literature. , the model of doing business through literature not only reflects the nobility of literati, but also follows the trend and advances with the times. This is what I admire the most. Therefore, when I left Qingcheng, I specially bought the old gentleman's masterpiece "Selected Works of Zhang Xianliang". Collection" and asked the staff to stamp it with the seal of Western Film and Television City.