In 1972,at the height of Mao's Cultural Revolution, the Chinese government invited Antonioni, accompanied by his hosts, to spend eight weeks touring Beojing,Nanjing,Shangh,Shanghaiai and the province of Hunan.The risult was an almost four-hour documentary,but just one year later the Chinese violently and persistently condemned Antornioni and his film. Paying attention to what the glimpsed and sensed and the emotions that this aroused in him, Antonioni prlduced a documentary, moving and tender, of the director himdelf looking at the country, rather than a sterile work on "the achievements of the new China".

A documentary on China, concentrating mainly on the faces of the people, filmed in the areas they were allowed to visit. The 220 minute version consists of three parts. The first part, taken around Beijing, includes a cotton factory, older sections of the city, and a clinic where a Cesarean operation is performed, using acupuncture. The middle part visits the Red Flag canal and a collective farm in Henan, as well as the old city of Suzhou. The final part shows the port and industries of Shanghai, and ends with a stage presentation by Chinese acrobats.

Extra:
01.Michelangelo Antonioni: The Eye That Changed Cinema
02.Interview With Luojinbiao By Shanghai Documentary Channel
03.Intervista A Marco Bellocchio