When you see the first few frames of Shanghai, A Cultural Tour, you get the impression of viewing a large North American city with Victorian and Edwardian-influenced architecture. It is the leisurely film's music that tells us instantly this is a Chinese city. Shanghai, once known as the Paris of the Orient for its lifestyle, had architecturally—at least the monumental buildings— far more in common with New York, London, or even Toronto of the 19th Century and here and there, with Moscow of that period.

This Naxos DVD, part of a five-city series, offers a look at the Western influence on the city's pre-1949, i.e. pre-revolution architecture. There is also a section devoted to the old Shikumen-style lane houses, some of which are now being preserved after most have fallen to the wrecker's ball to make way for office towers and other skyscrapers. In addition, the film offers a tour through the former French Concession area (the city once was divided into various European and American concessions to keep the westerners away from the Chinese population).

For those of us, who know Shanghai from the days before too many skyscrapers pushed their way into the view from the Huangpu River where they now overshadow The Bund, this film is a gentle reminder of the city's original beauty. The Bund is a series of buildings that for more than a century has been an architectural landmark of Shanghai, the gateway to the city, facing the Huangpu River. It holds fond and sad memories for anyone who has had occasion to be inside some of these buildings for both business, and pleasure, and thus witnessed the true condition inside, away from the preying tourist's eyes. The neglect of cities by the Communists, of which most of us are only too aware since the fall of the Berlin Wall, was in the fairly recent past also evident inside these structures. One hopes this has been remedied.

This film is a reminder that Shanghai is a city that in its pre-Communist past marvelously combined the western with the ancient Chinese. Now the garish glitter of night-time neon lighting, advertising billboards and often, the ugliness of such buildings as the Oriental Broadcasting Tower, overpowers the old Shanghai. The DVD focuses on the older buildings, some of which show the efforts of preservation that were not evident years ago. This effort gladdens one's heart as it arouses fond memories of this vibrant, cultural city that far outshines Beijing—at least as far as I am concerned.

The film also features four Shanghai Buddhist temples. It is too bad that there is no explanations about them, and one is left to guess which is what, and vise versa. The film even offers up a red brick church with two spires, a statue of Christ in its courtyard, and another building with a huge red wooden cross attached to its yellow bricks to give the impression that China is tolerant of religions. Mhm! And, then there is also a theater with a huge Lion King poster. Yes, today's Shanghai has it all.

Although it is obvious that this is a fairly recent film as the DVD shows buildings that are new, streets that contain more large cars than bicycles, one somehow wonders when the film was shot. There is a curious lack of the multitude of people that usually are in evidence in this city of about 20 million. The lack of chocking car traffic, the seemingly relaxed, strolling pedestrians, the gentility of the scenery, all arouse the suspicion that this film was, to some extend, staged. Artistically speaking, the photography is often spectacular, but at other times the camera points far too much at the sky above the city rather than on the ground, where the real city lives.

Why, I wondered, does the film dwell so very little on the area of the Nine Bend Bridge (Jiuqu Qiao), and why the skimpy images of the Yu Yuan Gardens in the heart of the city despite heading one of the 12 chapters Shanghai Old Street and Yu Yan Garden. The Gardens are said to have been the place where the Boxer Revolution was planned. Premier Zhou Enlai's personal intervention saved it from destruction by the Red Brigade during the Cultural Revolution. The same effort also saved many other Chinese national treasures.

What strikes one in this DVD is the extravagance of the city at night, especially the neon lights along Nanjing Road and the lighting of the Bund. China suffers from energy shortages, yet, here Shanghai outdoes any western city with its nighttime lighting. This excess of neon is not staged. For those of us, who are being asked to accept the Kyoto Agreement, the sight of this outrageous light display strikes a wrong note. The uncontrolled pollution created by China's cars, industry and power production is not covered by the agreement, something that we should never accept.

This film about the old Shanghai that now really only exists in small pockets, in the end turns out to be more of a propaganda film rather than a documentary. One is glad some effort is being made to preserve the old, but it would seem these buildings are more of a facade than the real thing that is today's Shanghai. It presents a face of Shanghai that beckons into existence our cultural memories of the city and plays on our emotions. But, by giving us Shanghai at night, we realize what China really wants us to see and know is the new Shanghai so we are aware of its 'power'.

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For those of us who love Chinese music, the score, consisting of a series of traditional melodies, underlines the nostalgia. I found it seductive, once again making me only too aware that this DVD represents a China of the mind, not of reality. The music, however, may induce boredom in those who are not familiar with it. Hence, one wishes for the introduction of a voice-over or a subtitle now and then to give the western viewer more direct insight into what is being shown, and to vary the pace. If you do not know Shanghai, this DVD will not give you any real insight into this huge city. It does, however, give a glimpse of what it was like in the past, before all that excess of glitter. In the end, though, the production has a feeling of the 'unreal' about it.

A Booklet provided with the DVD provides brief comments about each of the 12 different Chapters to give the viewer at least some idea of what is being shown. It is not enough, however.

Also available in this series are Beijing, Hangzhou, Xi'an, and Guilin.