Chinese cinema: a bluffer's guide – Arts & Entertainment
www.timeoutbeijing.com — Ten things you didn't know about China's rich film history:
1. No Chinese movies made before 1922 exist
Chinese cinema can be said to begin with the short film The Battle of Dingjunshan, which was filmed in Beijing in 1905. Unfortunately, the next 17 years of cinematic output from China is either lost or missing. The highly flimsy nature of the nitrate film used to make these pictures means that virtually none of the earliest kung fu and comedy movies made in China have survived.
