Shanghai bund in Documentary

The Bund is arguably the top tourist attraction in Shanghai. Now the popular sites that run along the western bank of the Huangpu river, as well as some fascinating stories about them, have been captured in a TV documentary.

And the production is to be translated into more than thirty languages, to spread the charm of the Bund to a worldwide audience.

An international version of TV documentary "The Bund" will be made under the joint effort of Shanghai Television, China Newsreel and Documentary Studio, and National Geographic. The fifty minute production will be translated into thirty plus languages and broadcast around the world.

Zhou Bing, who directed two acclaimed TV documentaries "The Palace Museum" and "Dunhuang," is at the helm of "The Bund." He assembled an international team, and used stories from the Bund, and the people that have lived and worked there to narrate the past and present of this legendary stretch of riverfront property. The film features characters including Robert Hart, an Englishman who served as the head of China's customs office, and vintage film star Zhou Xuan.

Zhou Bing, Director of "The Bund", said, "I think the Bund's history is not only about the Bund itself, but a history composed of people's feelings and fates. This history still extends beyond today and tomorrow."

The Bund franchise includes the fifty minute international version documentary, a five-episode TV documentary broadcast in China, and a documentary film, which premiered on Monday as part of the Shanghai TV festival. Tickets for the premiere were sold out days earlier. Audiences couldn't wait to watch the Bund's mystery and glory told on screen.

Audience Member, said, "I'm a Shanghai native. I'm interested in the production and about my hometown's signature site."

"The Bund is a special place, forever imbued with a magical charm."

Chris Macdonald, Chairman, Canadian Documentary Film Festival, said, "The Bund" documentary also incorporated many rare video records of the locale and of Shanghai, from Chinese as well as foreign studios and museums. Some audience members had to sit in the isles to watch the premiere, due to the appeal of the production.