Old Chengdu, Western China, in 1940 成都

[@hsun7997]

This is how my ancestors lived. My grandfather was a little boy when this video was shot. Everyone had a very hard life back then. I always loved to hear him tell me stories about his life, and now he is almost 90. The world has modernized very fast, almost too fast. Thank you for your video.

[@repent.sinner]

Hope your Grandpa is still alive, tell him Jesus Christ is God and the only way to eternal life, Jesus is the savior and the 1 true God, Buddha cant save him.

[@Nn.65juk]

@@repent.sinner you are making fear. Religions only do That. Makes me feel akward.

[@repent.sinner]

@@Nn.65juk shows your being convicted, you feel uncomfortable your living not right.

[@lihwak9181]

@@repent.sinner you're illiterate about china's religious makeup

[@repent.sinner]

@@lihwak9181 how many born again Christians in china? Far less than 1%

[@000MIB]

作为土生土长的成都人第一次看到了成都在1940年的样子和当时的人的生活，非常感谢作者上传如此珍贵的视频资料

[@jintaoren6755]

语音是现代的， 后期加进去的。

[@joezhang7125]

你爷爷 奶奶 应该见过吧

[@scotttao1782]

4:25 那段一家人吃饭的视频里的对话是粤语，哈哈

[@雷問]

@@scotttao1782 nice catch

[@realchinese9834]

@@scotttao1782 这个家庭应该是住在成都的广东银。。

[@michaelijsbrand]

@ralphzwang . Well, that Cantonese accent is due to the fact that no original sounds were recorded and I had to add one of a Cantonese source. As to Youku I have tried in vain to upload clips on Chinese clip sides, but they are all in Chinese which I do not understand.

[@EvenYang91]

MichaelRogge hi there thanks for the precious footage . Would you mind if I repost them on Chinese platform e.g youku and tiktok? I think netizen there would be fond of it ..

[@prouddogmum]

Even Yang you should, it’s not his video he just collects archives

[@michaelijsbrand]

@CaeserTseng Indeed most of prewar documentaries were without live sound nor exact information on its precise location, so I added it

Thank you so much for your precious films. Life at that time was peaceful. I wish I had been there. China always stays deeply in my heart. I feel that I used to live there in my previous incarnation.

[@diamantemine5493]

i dont think china would be too peaceful in 1940

[@elliot905]

it were dark times for china , people suffered a lot from japan and other foreign countries . that didnt show in those documentairies . western media...always have been that way .

[@Madeforhoney]

Love this! I always harp back to the old days. A gentle pace by stream side and vegetation, on foot, is preferable for me. Thanks for sharing.

[@bailangwang]

Thank you for uploading those movies from China's past. They're brilliant and you are doing a brilliant job. Thanks.

[@maxjing61]

this is amazing. it's amazing how things change through time, when you realize most of the people in this have turned to dust and that they would never have imagined what the very place they have lived in would turn out 70 some years later, and for us watching this, we could also only resort to our imagination to fill in the rest of their world back then. we will never meet in time or in space, except through this footage, which lasts through time, albeit in an incomplete and cut-out manner. It makes me feel humbled and also encouraged because I know my time will have its end too and that generations after me will continue to live on in a whole new world that I can never experience nor imagine within the limitation of my time. Amazing stuff!

[@benthekeeshond545]

Max, Hopefully without a major war. A major war with modern weapons is indeed a genuine world war. If that happens, the destructions will be near-total and I wonder what % of the human race will survive to rejuvenate our great human civilization. The force of world destruction is in the hands of a few people and we continue hoping that they are sensible individuals.

[@zhang393]

Thank you so much for putting the video on youtube. Chengdu is my hometown. The video brings so many memories back and also shows me what Chengdu was alike many decades before I was born. The Cantonese dialect was not a good idea, it makes me doublt if all the clips were genuinely shot in Chengdu. Neverthless, great video and thank you for your effort.

[@zss9527]

感谢作者提供如此让人感到温暖的历史画面

[@YS-wx5hs]

Thank you very much, these footages are priceless.

[@wangxiaoyong5110]

Great video, thanks for sharing. The lady at dinner is quite elegant and beautiful.

[@michaelijsbrand]

No, it was taken from a German documentary film.

[@gegeshangguan3464]

MichaelRogge thanks

[@moonryan3908]

Yellow-skinned Asian Westernization Road

[@Victor-hm2dr]

moon ryan wtf r u tryna say

[@michaelijsbrand]

Greetings and thanks to you all !

[@李旭杰-e8g]

MichaelRogge 你好！这些是电影还是真实纪录片?

[@jiangbo340]

what a wonderful and meaningful life you live documenting so many places! Love the video, thanks for sharing

[@你吃我吃网]

Thank you for uploading this golden video, it’s so precious for me as a Chinese people from Chengdu.

[@yanxie6427]

omg i never know my hometown was looks like this. This is amazing for me. Thank you post this video here.

[@nicolas87cool]

Shows how ignorant todays chinese have become

[@ineverlickyoghurtlid3903]

4:42 this bridge is still there in Dujiangyan. 这个都江堰的吊桥现在还在，去都江堰景区耍的朋友可以走一走。

[@johnchan552]

It's priceless. Thanks for posting!

[@zenoslee8945]

Very meaningful clips were included in this video. Water mill, waterwheel, cow cultivating land, rickshaw, bamboo craftsman, making ceramic……all these are valueable scenes.

[@ll125600]

OMG！！！ 4:39--The Dujiangyan Irrigation Project..which still works to benefit people today..More than 2000 years history..

[@iiiceland]

It's so special to see what my grandparents' life looks like,thank you for sharing this great video.

[@angryyuan7526]

Thank you Michael for sharing these clips. God bless you.

[@blusemark298]

appreciating for your work, let us know more history than thousands of words.

[@stoneruler]

An era filled with hardships for the Chinese people, yet so beautiful in a special way.

[@shuhanliu7675]

Lol, I'm from Chengdu. I like this video! It gives me a feeling of home :D People in the film were speaking the same dialect we use today in Chengdu :D I think time doesn't change many things, it only build up more modern facilities, but people in Chengdu are living the same kind of laid-back lifestyle LoL :D

[@dx7631]

My pastor also left Chengdu with the KMT then to the US in the 50s and I immediately picked up on the tone shift of his Sichuan Hua. There's literature from Sichuan University on the topic.

[@jabberjunkie7203]

那就好撒。成都话就是非常好听哟！

[@vanphanthai7492]

Chengdu= thành đô. It's a my favourite song

[@eugene7145]

But they are speaking Cantonese... Chengdu doesn't speak Cantonese now.

[@uioj-ks4fg]

视频里面说那两句究竟是什么意思？“优梨过”？

[@MaryGadsby]

I love this channel and visit it every day

[@commecicommeca3521]

very precious clip,thx for.sharing

[@zizhengwang7207]

Thanks for sharing. That’s amazing to seeI what my city looked liked 80 years ago. I can tell even my mom and dad have never seen this! But it looks like we still keep the same lifestyle as shown in this video, I mean chill, tea...and smoking. That’s awesome!

[@michaelijsbrand]

@albertsamtam Thanks for your info. I'll await other viewers opinions. I'm not aware that 9.39 was taken in Hong Kong. In fact the footage was taken in 'Western China' Would that include Hong Kong?

[@yile5524]

very precious video. thanks for sharing.

[@zenzenthaiamulethobby7109]

Thanks for sharing the nostalgia.

[@SuperHyee]

Thanks a million!

[@thehainanchannel]

I love watching old clips like this, thanks for sharing. The changes really are profound, but that's to be expected in any country over such a time frame I guess. What's really interesting is to see the small things that are still the same. In Hainan they still use those hand held weighing scales in the fresh food markets, and the medicine shops, herbs are still stored in row after row of shoe box sized wooden drawers, that medicine shop could have been anywhere in Hainan today. It looks like they drove on the left hand side of the road back then?

[@sandunjayasinghe9508]

Thank You so much for This Historical Films Protection..!!!!! As a writer , Language Studies Student I really appreciate You..!!!!! Sandun Sri Lanka (Ceylon)

[@fangfang4100]

I appreciated it. It’s been six years since I left Chengdu. Never shall I leave the place that I love, never shall they go from my heart, even though my eyes are somewhere else. 父母在，不远游，远游必有方。

[@starlee8303]

This video is precious! Love it

[@emilieboncourage3396]

I’m from Chengdu, so excited to see this precious video 👍

[@VillageRegional]

Hey bro, i want to buy your videos, for Education purpose

[@gohe0001]

You can just download any video by google...

[@michaelijsbrand]

@tonykklam1 No, it is from prewar footage. I added sound and effects.

[@barryyan6917]

My city, be proud of Chengdu, thank you so much for this video.

[@CHANELFUNOvO]

thanks，this is precious，i love watching this kind of films

[@huntertao4321]

2:24是都江堰的南桥吗？后面的吊桥我记得，变化不大。可惜南桥边那座老茶楼颓了，那是我心中天下第一的品茶之处！

[@刘杰美达画廊]

很珍贵的影像资料

[@michaelijsbrand]

@From88China88Chengdu Thank you for your explanation.

[@michaelijsbrand]

@hkpegasus01 I didn't know. Anyhow mine is edited, of better quality and with a different soundtrack. So I do hope that it still serves a purpose. In general I check first if a clip exists based on the same obsolete film.

[@saadmore3125]

Wonderful 👏 video...please about guillin

[@王比武]

I can guarantee that this is Chengdu. I am growing here, the folk customs in the lens. I can feel the traces left in the time when I was a child, the cattle, the streams on the farmland, the wheelbarrow, the ground rice, the craftsmanship of the craftsmen, I also saw the Fu River. The ancient city wall (which has been demolished) is the iron bridge on Dujiangyan (still in existence). After an earth-shaking change in the 1980s, Chengdu is now a beautiful modern city with more culture and more people.

[@fanli5440]

王比武 是的，我小的时候都看到这些事长大。我58年生于成都，90年来美国。这些都是我小时间看到的，好亲切！！！

[@王比武]

@@fanli5440 哈哈，老乡你好。

[@robertschlesinger1342]

Interesting video of Chengdu. Amazing how far China has come in a mere two generations.

[@realchinese9834]

Yes, China become much worser, in terms of moral..

[@timbercladdingcn]

旧中国人的脸上写满了朴实，感谢大师上传！这个频道真有意义。

[@paulus4222]

Thank you, Michael. As a fellow “Old China Hand” I love the Chinese people and their culture.

[@haoyuanwang374]

说实话，生活比我想象的要好，每个人面色都不错，不愧是天府之国

[@c90111]

黑白的能看出面色 你真他娘的是个人才

[@haoyuanwang374]

@@c90111 指精神状态

[@sarcasmo57]

I assume that all the sounds were added later as cameras at the time didn't record sound?

[@adamabdulah5881]

Good Video.Coulf see how Chengdu transform to what it is today.I was visited Chengdu in 2013.What a difference now.I was really amaze to see the Global Mall it was really2 huge.Took a fast train to DuyjianYang beautiful place.Suprise there was Mosque.

[@DezRoey]

非常感谢作者！

[@tttssswwwtttssswww]

这里是我出生的地方！感动啊！谢谢上传！my homeland thanks for upload!

[@chusandy9545]

Too precious. Life of people in different industries. Thank you. But why i heard a sentence of cantonese"你要呢個呀"？

[@amandali9280]

People talked in Cantonese in meal scenes, those should not be in Chengdu. Appreciate your uploading!! So meaningful, I read Dujiangyan in textbooks now here. It’s amazing! Bless you and take care

[@kappakonbu]

of course it doesn’t matter which you shooted or not. Anyway i’m your fun and always appreciate you to share your treasure. Thanks a lot.

[@yousheng]

really thanks for sharing this!

[@忧郁小王子]

Thanks for the upload.

[@tuartshisss]

厉害了，很罕见的记录！

[@林文才-b3h]

挺～俺老長官在街上打油被抓上車當兵～到臺灣後也奮發向上當上軍官～1998年謝世～感念……

[@thrash_and_beer7118]

@Tin Yee Chiu 很多人就这样被无缘无故抓走，然后一辈子离开家人。这么儿戏的征兵不应该发生在20世纪。

[@钓鱼岛村三组村民]

很正常 ，抗日国军伤亡惨重，不抓壮丁就没有兵了

[@thrash_and_beer7118]

@@钓鱼岛村三组村民 被拉走的人都能抗上日也罢了，有不少没到前线就死在路上

[@moonryan3908]

@@thrash_and_beer7118 真的 福建台灣閩南人不懂國民黨軍抓壯丁的 這只有大陸人懂

[@janewhite1012]

@@moonryan3908 我外婆那一代就很多人被國民黨抓當壯丁！我福建的。

[@songliangxiao8093]

Thank you MichaelRogge.chengdu is my hometown.I was born in here 1983.This is the I watch video about chengdu in 1940.

[@bluewhalie635]

Seeing people working diligently and in such a clever manner really impresses.

[@TheCatalinalira]

Excellent video, Michael! Thank you very much.

[@DanSetoChineseCanadianRootsTV]

Great capture of life at that time. Thanks very much. Dan Seto, Chinese Canadian Roots TV.

[@TheTeufelpanzerVI]

My Father-in-Law was in China during WWII, and he spend time stationed there...many of the video images are captured in images he has. I will show him this. He turned 97 this past October.

[@akouafray8616]

The daily lives of people. Nice video.

[@geraldbai]

看到了都江堰

[@yile5524]

why the family speaked Cantonese in video @4:23 and @7:51?

[@margaretneanover6066]

Awesome, farmers, regular persons ...having huge fenced homes goats on the roof, smiles, hard work.

[@pohyin2564]

Hello, watch the olden days is very interesting, subscribe from Malaysia 🇲🇾,thank very much

[@Joe-hn9kr]

我不是本地人，但是我在成都过了4年差不多。但是这对我还是很感动。

[@joezhang7125]

I am very local Chengdu people . My great-grademother was born at 1909 in Chengdu

[@新冯-o9u]

I find Dujiangyan, the brige above min river is stanstill,so interesting

[@snail3382]

感谢！！！让我看到我们大四川的曾经的面貌。

[@chilieping]

最喜欢的中国城市之一，生活节奏慢，人民友好热情，唯一不好的地方是气候方面日照太少了，导致当地人普遍体格比较娇小

[@hotasian9205]

美食也非常多啊，现在成都很繁华了

[@fevergrotham4209]

皮肤也好

[@meko8874]

@Kan seymour 自從現代水準飲食普及以後已經不存在什麼矮小的現象了

[@nwu1237]

@Kan seymour 不是哈 云南人就个子高 比所有南方人平均高

[@李明阳-e7j]

中国·成都旧景，感谢国际友人的分享

[@gloriatsang4278]

Not sure how Chendu this is. Every time I hear some one speaking it's in Cantonese. Unless it's filmed by someone from Guangzhou.

[@sanramondublin]

When i see these documentaries, I become even more proud of Chinese government and their specific Socialism. Chinese communist party did the grandest miracle of HUMAN HISTORY. I am grateful to them. Look at China now. Greetings from north California .

[@coco7290]

Without socialism, it will be batter, look at Taiwan or Singapore or Hongkong and multiply by 100 times

[@Flex2212]

The great leap backwards and the cultural devolution being the most noteworthy contributions. Come on. The people of China brought about the economic miracle once the party let them. Why credit those opressors? Taiwan is surely better off.

[@gymnopedie4445]

@@coco7290 Taiwan is a client state of the American empire that sacrificed independence and solidarity with the oppressed third world in exchange for American investment dollars and favorable trade deals that allowed them to industrialize. Hong Kong is just a tax haven where bankers and corrupt third world leaders hide their wealth to avoid having to share it with the masses. This collusion with the wealthy and the powerful is why Hong Kongers are such loyal lap dogs of their former colonial masters, waving the colonizer's flag and singing the colonizer's anthem in all of their protests. But the People's Republic of China is pursuing prosperity in a spirit of SOLIDARITY with the oppressed third world nations, building infrastructure and stimulating growth in the formerly colonized African nations and showing solidarity with the indigenous people of Bolivia. The oppressed former colonies of the world are standing up because the Chinese people have stood up!

[@himalaya113]

Oh my gosh, i can't believe this. This makes me feel weird because now we see China is something else with highly developed infrastructures and rich and wealthy country. So China was originally this normal at the beginning.

[@tytoalba4794]

​​@༼ཆ༽ Yes it's only an avarage world income but in term of GDP China is very wealthy.

[@fivluck3338]

那兔的片尾原来出自这里。很珍贵的影像。

[@lookingfrank]

Thank you very much for the precious video. Let us know how our ancestors lived.

[@sesameqq4121]

4：33 這不是粵語嗎？

[@joezhang7125]

我能翻到我家成都最老的一张照片是1923年 第二张是1932年

[@gunsroses1293]

所有的憎恨都来自于臆想，所有的伤害都来自于偏见，所有的动乱都湮灭于生生不息的主流

[@406356690]

im from chengdu. glad to see the old chengdu. thank you

[@hkpegasus01]

From the KZbin Suggestions besides your video, there is a video call "People of Western China" uploaded by felixlamour. It said that the place is called Chengdu.

[@funny-video-YouTube-channel]

Manual farming was popular in that time :-)

[@magnetospin]

I wouldn't say it's popular, just common.

[@kirianismaelsanchez9606]

@@magnetospin Wouldn't say common, just what it was possible at the time

[@magnetospin]

@@kirianismaelsanchez9606 What do you possible at the time? It's always been possible.

[@kirianismaelsanchez9606]

@@magnetospin like, there wasn't a lot of alternatives, that's what i mean

[@kksan]

我是92年出生的成都人！我外婆43年出生在成都。

[@huzhuiwei]

That's the Anlong Suspension Bridge at Dujiangyan

[@Jamie-js3qw]

is that opium or tobacco?

[@casey7057]

GREAT FILM. I STILL RECOGNISE CERTAIN TOOLS MY FATHER AND MOTHER USES IN OUR OLD ATAP HOUSE IN MALAYSIA 60 YEARS AGO. CERTAINLY I SPEAKS CANTONESE. MY PARENTS FROM CANTON, GOUZHOUZ MY GRANDFATHER A WEALTHY LAND OWNER THERE.

[@yusenzhan9767]

这个时候我祖爷在成都当保长。

[@lianghao7128]

你爷爷是不是姓王。。。

[@蒸汽阿姨]

梁浩 哈哈 成都人的梗

[@maxjing61]

hahaha 我祖爷还在当袍哥

[@有富之夫]

不知道你們說什麼。。。解析下那些職業呀。。。

[@zizhengwang7207]

我爷爷那会是小袍哥

[@From88China88Chengdu]

@CaeserTseng Hi ,chengdu is my hometown,and the panda's hometown.Actually,this video is true.There is a river named Min River which is the source of the Yangtze River（Long River） in the video.

[@loyan1954]

谢谢，很难找到这些。

[@A1J1P1]

a lot of the video appears to be filmed in nearby Dujiangyan 都江堰

[@Samo1228]

I thought I heard Cantonese at 7:59 the dinner scene...? Chengdu or Canton?

[@charsensei878]

during WW2，a lot of people from the coastal provinces of China which were occupied by Japanese Army took refuge in Sichuan.we call them"Xiajiang Ren"( downstream people)

[@brunopaulin4451]

Gostei mas o ruído na cidade eh em inglês ????

[@masayukik.4622]

よくこんな動画が残ってるなぁ、、、。 とんでもなく貴重。