毕业论文-浅谈影视旅游的开发—以无锡影视基地和横店影视城为例.doc

浙江师范大学函授学位论文( 2010 届)题目 浅谈影视旅游的开发 以无锡影视基地和横店影视城为例专业学院 地理与环境科学学院 旅 游 管 理学号年级2009级 作者姓名指导老师 完稿时间 2010.5.28成绩 浅谈影视旅游的开发以无锡影视基地和横店影视城为例摘要：本文从影视旅游的概念入手，阐述了影视旅游的定义、特征等，并以无锡影视基地和横店影视城为例，通过对无锡影视基地、横店影视城发展历程、发展模式以及区位优势和发展条件的分析，得出影视旅游的发展启示，通过这两个影视城的成功经验的分析，希望其它影视城的发展能从中得到借鉴，以及影视旅游得到长足的发展，并找到一条成功的可持续发展模式 。 关键词：影视旅游；无锡影视基地；横店影视城一、引言电视、电影已成为人们日常生活中必不可少的一部分，同样作为人们精神领域消费活动的旅游，与影视作品的结合就形成一种新的旅游形式影视旅游。西方称之为“电影引致旅游”，认为它是由于旅游目的地出现在银屏、影带、银幕上而促使旅游者造访这些旅游地和吸引物的旅游活动。国内学者则认为影视旅游是指受到与影视拍摄、制作的全过程及相关事物的影响，到影视作品的外景拍摄地、影视制作室以及与影视作品相关的影视类主题公园（影视城或影视基地）参观游览的活动。综合上述，狭义的影视旅游是指对影片拍摄的外景地进行的旅游，而广义的影视旅游还包括以影视城、故事发生地、影视拍摄技术博物馆以及影视节庆等为吸引物而发生的旅游，包括时间尺度上各种形式的影视文化节、电影首映式等发生的旅游活动。随着休闲时代的来临,旅游业的进一步发展,影视旅游将具有广阔的发展前景,将向着旅游客体多元化、旅游主体个性化、旅游内容更新化、建设规划化、服务综合化、产品多样化的方向发展。旅游业是最具发展潜力的一个朝阳产业，影视旅游也充满了光明的前途。随着各类影视类主题公园的兴建，影视旅游作为一种新兴的旅游方式异军突起，具有与影视紧密结合，将时间和空间的艺术最大化、旅游活动内容高度浓缩等特点。在促进旅游业发展的同时带动了影视等相关产业的发展，产生了较大的联动效益。由于其正处于以参观游览影视城为主的初期发展阶段，普遍存在着诸如产品单一、内涵不足、参与性不够、经营不当、景点大同小异、生命周期较短、运营困难、亏损严重和投资回收难等问题。二、影视业对旅游业的积极影响（一）树立旅游吸引物旅游吸引物就是通过影视作品的播放，激发旅游者的旅游动机，满足其旅游活动需求并能为影视旅游所利用。一部制作精良的影视剧在播出过程中，就已经为该地做好了有力的宣传，剧中所出现的景致同影视剧一道赚取了大众良好的口碑，同时还节省了一笔不小的旅游宣传费用。例如今天对于明星偶像的崇拜已越来越成为一股不容忽视的旅游吸引物体。崇拜明星从而“爱屋及乌”式地喜欢与明星有关的东西,如明星拍戏的地方或去过的地方等,这些东西在公众的眼中都成了明星本身的象征。对明星的崇拜使得影视外景地旅游业成为一种时尚，从而产生影视景点。（二）产生旅游动机影视旅游者旅游动机的形成大多受影视剧的影响,对影视剧的热爱使他们选择了到拍摄地旅游。通过影视作品的播放，能为影视旅游所利用，激发旅游者的旅游动机。影视业是创意产业，借助灯光、音响等现代传媒技术艺术化地展现拍摄地传统文化，将剧情、人物融入到拍摄地优美的环境中，共筑一个和谐理想的世界，让观众情感移入影视之中，从而触发到拍摄地去亲身体验影视作品中熟悉的场景和画面，这是影视旅游者最主要的动机。影视作品中有很多场景取自文化神秘、或风光秀丽、或幽深险绝,从而激发了观赏者的兴趣,去这些地方旅游。一部有影响力的影视剧，其真正的影响力在于能真正触动观众的心弦，引起他们的共鸣，这也就成了影视旅游的动机。（三）提高旅游地的知名度影视作品作为当代大众娱乐消费的主要文化产品,其自身包含着大量的“注意力资源”。影视作品所传递的信息往往呈立体状态,这种立体的信息在时间的流动中持续不断地涌来,形成容量大、信息直接的特征。大多数影视作品从拍摄前就开始进行造势宣传,在影视剧放映的时候,宣传的渠道和形式就更加多样化,媒体的宣传、影视剧拍摄的花絮、明星的参与等。在这个过程中影视外景地信息不断出现,可以不断地增强潜在旅游者的注意力,从而提高了旅游地的知名度。 （四）推广旅游地文化影视作品总是根据主题、人物、风格的要求,调动影视艺术特殊的表现手段,通过挖掘拍摄地的独特的传统文化创造出真实可信的典型环境。这种典型是经过特效加工的自然景观和人文景观，随着影视的播放，不仅传承了拍摄地传统文化，同时异域文化的神秘深深吸引消费者的眼球，影响消费者的审美感觉，在一定程度上推广了旅游地传统文化。影视作品是推广旅游目的地文化的重要媒介平台，对外景地旅游业发展起巨大的的促进作用。（五）形成旅游地形象和品牌影视具有声像合一、声画结合的特点,任何一部电影或电视剧,即便是广告、纪录片、专题片等也少不了音乐、美术等传统艺术元素的搭配。通过特效的加工和处理,使得作为影片拍摄地的景点或景区透过影视来看时,更加漂亮,更具有美感和吸引力。特别是镜头画面的独特视角对景物美的发掘,能够启发人们对拍摄地真实景物的审美感受，同时影视剧的故事内容也会给拍摄地增添一层梦幻般的文化色彩,无形中加强人们对拍摄地的一种心理美感。这种完美的影视拍摄艺术效果很好地形成了外景地的旅游感知形象和品牌。三、无锡影视基地发展经历及其成功经验（一）无锡影视基地的发展历程1987年，中央电视台在江苏无锡修缮疗养院的同时，附带建设了西游记艺术宫，放置拍摄电视剧西游记所用过的道具、服饰、设备等，以便日后再用。艺术宫对外开放，一时竟成了无锡城的一大旅游热点。当时一张门票1元钱，日收入最高竟达到万元，第二年便收回全部投资，成为我国最早兴建的影视基地。1991年，基地正式挂牌后不久，央视为拍摄唐明皇随即在大孚山麓动工兴建唐城，之后杨贵妃、武则天等名噪一时的电视剧也在此取景。受影视剧热播的影响，游客数量也急剧增加，最多时1天达5万人，出人意料的影视旅游热使得原本为创作而设计的场所变成了新型旅游资源。于是1992年三国城开始建设，1995年利用唐城、三国城的回收资金启动了水浒城的建设。随着三国演义、水浒传等历史名剧的热播，数以百万计的中外游客纷纷前来观光。无锡影视基地的影视拍摄与影视旅游，不仅促进了地方经济的发展，丰富了江南名城无锡的文化内涵；而且保持了影视文化与江南人文风情的结合、影视创作与特殊旅游的结合，使得影视旅游得到了充分发展。无锡影视基地的巨大成功带动了我国各地影视城建设的高潮。1997年，主要由无锡影视基地的三国城和唐城景区改组成立的中视股份上市，它是国内第一家兼营影视制作和文化旅游业的公司，显露出影视基地市场化运作的端倪。随后公司的经营范围不断扩展，开始由事业服务型向影视制作业和多元化经营方向转变；基地功能已超越简单的人造景观，逐步成为一个聚集各种影视生产要素的平台，一个为各种影视产品提供完整链条式服务的场所，这体现了影视基地以后的发展趋势。2007年又成功荣获国家首批5A级景区称号，也标志着我国首个5A级影视主题公园的诞生。（二）无锡影视基地的成功经验无锡影视基地的成功发展得益于影视基地管理主体的特殊性、市场的优越性、影视与旅游的融合性以及文化内涵的丰富性，这一“四位一体共生的”运营模式。在管理主体方面，无锡影视基地依托中央电视台这棵“大树”筹建上市公司，具有市场融资、经营机制、经营效益、影视营销、产品开发等多方面的优势。三国演义、水浒传的热播，就是利用了央视极好的营销平台，在全国媒体展开极大的宣传攻势，具有其它媒体无法比拟的优势，为影视基地无形资产的建立产生了深远影响。在区位与选址方面，影视基地具有良好的区位优势，保证了客源市场和消费能力，同时利用临近太湖的优势，因地制宜，合理规划。在影视与旅游融合方面，影视基地最大限度发挥影视与旅游的高度结合性，创造了1+12的经济和社会效益；项目设计上，通过游客参与影视表演，园了游客的“影视梦”；并在产品设计上不断创新，实现动态与静态的结合。在文化内涵的挖掘方面，影视基地依托吴文化，强调景区地方文脉传承，并以家喻户晓的三大古典名著为蓝本，通过对非自然景观的时空布置，为游客还原了一个梦幻般的世界。四、横店影视城发展概况及其经营特色（一）横店影视城的发展概况19961999年是横店影视城的起步阶段。1996年，著名导演谢晋筹拍历史巨片鸦片战争一时找不到合适的外景地，横店集团便邀请谢晋来横店拍戏，斥资修建了第一个影视拍摄基地“广州街”景区。之后，又相继建造了秦王宫、香港街、清明上河图、江南水乡等景区，现已建成13个影视拍摄基地和2座超大型现代化摄影棚，是目前亚洲规模最大的影视拍摄基地，早在1999年就被美国好莱坞报道杂志称为“中国好莱坞”。 20002003年是横店影视城的发展阶段。为吸引更多的剧组前来横店拍摄，2000年开始影视城所有场景对影视拍摄免收场租，并为其提供从场景搭建、道具制作、演员中介到餐饮、住宿等系列配套服务。于是海内外剧组纷至沓来，横店影视城人气骤升，最多时一天18个剧组同时拍摄，与国内许多影视基地的冷清形成了鲜明的对比。剧组的的增多，游客的蜂拥，人气的骤升，带动了横店相关行业的快速发展，影视城逐步实现了产业化经营。2004年后是横店影视城的产业升级阶段。2004年初横店影视城被确立为中国唯一一家国家级影视产业实验区。 横影产业区汇集了305家影视公司，诞生了全国首家创业板上市影视公司华谊兄弟。横店影视城已成为国家AAAAA级旅游区，坚持“影视为表、旅游为里，文化为魂”的经营理念，实现了影视基地向影视旅游主题公园的转变，旅游产品由观光型向休闲体验型转变，游客将可深度体验影视拍摄、享受度假休闲乐趣。横店影视城正在成为一处独具魅力的中国超大型影视旅游主题公园和中国娱乐休闲之都。（二）横店影视城的经营特色1雄厚的资金基础横店集团是横店影视城的投资主体，是闻名全国的超大型民营企业集团。该集团实力雄厚，资金充足，2006年总资产159亿元，主营业务收入106.18亿元，利润总额11.39亿元，净利润8.84亿元。自1996年以来，横店集团累计投入30个亿的资金兴建横店影视城，其雄厚的经济基础为横店影视城的发展提供了强有力的经济支撑。2齐备的硬件设施横店影视城自1996年拍摄电影鸦片战争以来，其硬件设施便不断完善，相继建成了广州街、香港街、秦王宫、清明上河图、明清宫苑、梦幻谷、大智禅寺、屏岩洞府等13个拍摄基地和2座超大型现代化摄影棚，实景规模跃居亚洲第一。3.完善的软件设施宏大的基地规模，丰富的拍摄场景吸引了海内外影视导演们纷纷率剧组前来横店取景拍戏。同时，为影视拍摄提供各类软件设施，既能提供专业制景、设备车辆租赁、道具服装化装等方面的服务，又有庞大的群众演员队伍。横店演员工会拥有二千余名来自全国各地被称为“横漂一族的特约演员。4.齐全的配套实施方圆10平方公里的横店，拥有十余家星级宾馆8000余个床位，无论是高档酒店，基地宾馆，还是游乐园、夜总会、桑拿中心、演艺中心、健身中心、保龄球馆等各种配套设施都应有尽有。这里街市繁华，书店、网吧、酒吧、茶馆比比皆是，小吃、饭馆南北风味俱全，游客不仅可以在此体验影视，享受乐趣，还可以体验一下五光十色的夜生活。5巨大的品牌优势由于影视城具有较完备的硬件设施并采取积极的营销措施，吸引了众多剧组前来拍戏。自1996年以来，这里诞生了鸦片战争、荆轲刺秦王、汉武大帝、英雄、无极、满城尽带黄金甲、黄石的孩子、投名状、功夫之王、木乃伊3画皮、锦衣卫、唐伯虎点秋香、剑雨江湖等500多部影视作品。这些影视作品的上映，使得横店影视城广为人知，为企业带来了巨大的品牌价值，在剧组不断增多的同时，旅游者也是蜂拥而至。6有力的政策扶持2003年，文化产业被正式纳入国家“十五”规划之后，影视产业作为文化产业的重要组成内容，得到了相关政策的大力支持。2004年，横店影视城被国家广电局批准为全国唯一一家国家级影视产业实验区，它凭借试验区的专业化、集约化、规模化优势，能迅速扩大经营规模，拉长产业链，实现产业升级。五、无锡影视基地和横店影视城的发展启示 （一）要有优越的区位条件建设主题公园的必要条件是客源市场、交通条件以及区域的经济发展水平，它们关系到游客市场的大小、基础设施的完善程度、投资能力和游客的消费水平。主题公园的区位一般在2小时的车程或34小时的公共汽车或火车车程，距交通主干道15分钟内，而影视城属于主题公园中的一类，自然要考虑所处的区域位置和经济条件。无锡影视基地和横店影视城地处长三角地带，具有优越的区位条件。长三角是我国的三大经济圈之一，是我国第一个无障碍旅游区，交通便利，经济发达，占全国总量2%的土地面积聚集了全国10%的人口，GDP占全国总量的22%。因而，这两个影视城良好的区位条件保证了充足的旅游客源和较强的消费能力。（二）要有实力充足的投资主体除了一般主题公园需考虑的区位条件外，影视城投资主体的背景也尤为重要，必须要有独特的优势或者雄厚的实力。无锡影视基地的投资主体是中央电视台，正是依托这棵“大树”，影视基地才具有市场融资、经营机制、经营效益、影视营销等多种优势，其优势是其它影视城无法比拟的。横店影视城的投资主体则是财力雄厚的横店集团，为影视城的建设提供了强有力的经济支撑。在20世纪90年代末经营惨淡时期，基地最多一年亏损达到5000万元，但横店集团仍不断投入，最终才形成相当的规模，逐渐将基地推上盈利轨道。（三）多元化经营和市场化运作影视剧的放映对拍摄地的旅游促进作用具有明显的时限性，同时游客对单纯人造景观的兴趣也渐渐在减弱。以前影视城那种简单的靠修一座宫，拍一个电视剧来拉动旅游发展的模式已不可行。影视城要继续发展，必须转变盈利模式，实现产业升级，构建影视拍摄、设备租赁、后期制作、影视后产品开发等一应俱全的影视旅游产业链，形成并完善产业化发展模式。无锡影视基地在其经营公司上市后，已开始由事业服务型向影视制作业和多元化经营方向转变。横店影视城也在摸索新模式，把注意力转变到构建完整的影视制作产业链上面，并专门成立横店影视城有限公司，专门负责横店影视城的市场化运作。（四）深度开发影视旅游产品影视城长期形成的“景点+表演”的传统模式会令游客产生审美疲劳，失去吸引力。因此，影视城必须不断创新，深度开发影视旅游产品，提升产品内涵，丰富产品内容。如无锡影视基地的许多大型节目，就注入了深厚的历史文化内涵，提高了旅游的文化档次和品位。而横店影视城以创新推动旅游产品开发，创立互动式、体验型、参与性旅游项目，实现了静态观赏与动态参与相结合，吸引了大量的游客。六、结语影视旅游是以影视拍摄、制作的全过程以及与影视相关的事物为吸引物的旅游活动。影视与旅游相结合而形成影视旅游，二者实现优势互补，共同促进，产生了巨大的社会效益和经济效益。20世纪九十年代以后，以影视拍摄基地为主体的影视文化旅游在我国也随着旅游热潮的兴起而盛况空前，于是，影视拍摄基地如雨后春笋般地涌现出来。然而，目前除了少数几个影视旅游基地效益较好之外，大多数影视城都是门庭冷落、惨淡经营。在众多的影视城中，江苏无锡影视基地、浙江横店影视城无疑是其中的佼佼者。这两个影视城的成功经验对其它影视城的发展具有一定的借鉴意义。故本文通过对这两个成功案例的发展历程、发展模式以及优势的综合分析，得出其成功的因素和条件，期望为影视旅游的发展提供有益的借鉴。 参考文献1 魏宝祥，欧阳正宇影视旅游：旅游目的地营销推广新方式J旅游学刊,2007：122 付冰,周申立我国影视旅游发展与规划探索J北京：第二外国语学院学报，2005：33 刘滨谊，刘琴中国影视旅游发展的现状及趋势J旅游学刊，2005：74 张文,朱莉.影视剧对旅游发展的影响研究综述J北京第二外国语学院学报，2007：45 王玉玲，冯学钢，王晓论影视旅游及其“资源产品”转化J华东经济管理，2006：7致谢：本论文的顺利完成，离不开各位老师、同学和朋友的关心和帮助。从开始选题到论文的顺利完成，有多少可爱的同学和真挚的朋友给了我无私的帮助，在这里请接受我诚挚的谢意！特别是指导老师在我的论文中倾注了大量的心血，如果没有老师一次又一次耐心细致的指导，我想我很难完成这篇论文，在此表示深深的感谢。 浙江师范大学成人学历教育毕业论文评审表作 者姓 名学 号专业、年级论 文题 目浅谈影视旅游的开发以无锡影视基地和横店影视城为例论文字数6940论 文要 点本文从影视旅游的概念入手，阐述了影视旅游的定义、特征等，并以无锡影视基地和横店影视城为例，通过对无锡影视基地、横店影视城发展历程、发展模式以及区位优势和发展条件的分析，得出影视旅游的发展启示，通过这两个影视城的成功经验的分析，希望其它影视城的发展能从中得到借鉴，以及影视旅游得到长足的发展，并找到一条成功的可持续发展模式 。教学点指 导教 师意 见评语： 文章结构合理，逻辑清晰，能从影视旅游的实际出发，具有较强的现实指导意义。从整个写作过程来看，该生态度非常认真，能积极主动联系指导老师，多次对论文进行修改，用心程度可见一斑。成绩：（优秀、良好、中等、及格、不及格）指导教师（签名）： 年 月 日办 学学 院指 导教 师评 审意 见评语：成绩：（优秀、良好、中等、及格、不及格）评审教师（签名）： 年 月 日办 学学 院意 见院长（签名）： 年 月 日备注您好，为你提供优秀的毕业论文参考资料，请您删除以下内容，O(_)O谢谢！A large group of tea merchants on camels and horses from Northwest Chinas Shaanxi province pass through a stop on the ancient Silk Road, Gansus Zhangye city during their journey to Kazakhstan, May 5, 2015. The caravan, consisting of more than 100 camels, three horse-drawn carriages and four support vehicles, started the trip from Jingyang county in Shaanxi on Sept 19, 2014. It will pass through Gansu province and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, and finally arrive in Almaty, formerly known as Alma-Ata, the largest city in Kazakhstan, and Dungan in Zhambyl province. The trip will cover about 15,000 kilometers and take the caravan more than one year to complete. The caravan is expected to return to Jingyang in March 2016. Then they will come back, carrying specialty products from Kazakhstan A small art troupe founded six decades ago has grown into a household name in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. In the 1950s, Ulan Muqir Art Troupe was created by nine young musicians, who toured remote villages on horses and performed traditional Mongolian music and dances for nomadic families. The 54-year-old was born in Tongliao, in eastern Inner Mongolia and joined the troupe in 1975.He says there are 74 branch troupes across Inner Mongolia and actors give around 100 shows every year to local nomadic people. I can still recall the days when I toured with the troupe in the early 80s. We sat on the back of pickup trucks for hours. The sky was blue, and we couldnt help but sing the folk songs, Nasun says. The vastness of Inner Mongolia and the lack of entertainment options for people living there, made their lives lonely. The nomadic people were very excited about our visits, Nasun recalls. We didnt have a formal stage. The audience just sat on the grass. Usually, the performances became a big party with local people joining in. For him, the rewarding part about touring isnt just about sharing art with nomadic families but also about gaining inspiration for the music and dance. Ulan Muqir literally translates as red burgeon, and todays performers of the troupe still tour the regions villages and entertain nomadic families, but their fame has spread around the world. On May 16 and 17, nearly 100 singers and dancers from the troupe performed at Beijings Poly Theater. Their show, titled Ulan Muqir on the Grassland, depicted the history and development of the art troupe. Being from the region allowed me to embrace the culture of Inner Mongolia and being a member of the troupe showed me where I belonged, Nasun, the art troupes president, who is also a renowned tenor, tells China Daily. During a tour in 1985, he went to a village and met an elderly local man, who told him a story about his friendship with a solider from Shenyang, capital of Northeast Chinas Liaoning province, decades ago. The solider gave the old man a handmade saddle when they bid farewell. The story inspired Nasun to write Carved Saddle, a song that later became one of his most popular numbers. Now, every year, Nasun recruits young singers and dancers for the troupe. The troupe has also designed a new repertoire, which is mostly based on the daily lives of Mongolian people, especially the lives of nomadic families, and has combined contemporary musical elements with folk songs of the region. Haimu, a 25-year-old khoomei (a local variant of overtone singing) singer, joined the troupe three years ago. Along with a six-member band, he performs fast songs and soft ones that he writesall while playing the horse-head fiddle.Although I learned the piano since childhood and grew up listening to various kinds of music, to me, the folk music of Inner Mongolia is the root, he says. Performing in remote villages is pleasant. I feel at home on the boundless grasslands, and the warm people there make me feel fulfilled. The first round of spring auction season in Beijing ended last week, but it failed to create much spring in the art market. Although two pieces of Chinese painting fetched more than 100 million yuan, the decline in trading volume and sale rate showed a downturn this year. In the “Grand View: Chinese Painting Highlight” session at China Guardian 2015 spring auctions, Pan Tianshous representative work Eagle, Rock and Flora hit a record auction price of 279 million yuan, while Li Kerans masterwork Jinggang Mountain fetched 126.5 million yuan, an unexpected high in recent years. However, the trading volume fells to 1.87 billion yuan from 2.22 billion yuan in the same period the year before. The Huangchen 2015 Spring Auctions, which recorded 42.5 million yuan in total sales, experienced the same. The section number went down to 5 from 12 compared to last year. According to expert Shao Jianwu, the art market did not attract much excitement this year due to the booming stock market and the persistent problems of forgery and fake deals. The two pieces of Chinese painting notched up high price this spring due to their own value not due to a revival in the market. The successful transaction of two works with a hammer price of more than 100 million yuan once again confirms that valuable and rare works of high quality always earn the long-lasting high price. Chinese painting and calligraphy is still the pillar of the market. However, the overall sales rate has dropped slightly, which reflects the demand for the ordinary auction goods has weakened,” said the president of China Guardians Hu Yanyan. Besides, the entry of new buyers also makes certain changes to the direction of purchasing. In a word, the overall market trend is very unpredictable. Although China Guardian 2015 Spring Auctions has achieved remarkable results, it does not mean that the market has walked out of the predicament. We still have to wait for the big economic boom to invigorate the art market.” Even so, the hot pursuit of some special items appeared this spring. A special session of China Guardian Spring Auctions titled “Fine GiltBronze Buddhist Images” achieved a great deal with total sales volume of 41.89 million yuan and 92 percent sale rate. The 5th Shamar Rinpoche Statue from 16-17th century of Tibet was sold for 5.06 million yuan. The Beijing Chengxuan Auctions featured almost 2,800 items of coins and stamps in three sessions with good sale rate. The Huachen Auctions also set a special session of photographs under the condition of large-scale decline of auction sessions. There was a palpable dull thud of disappointment that accompanied the return of the imperial entourage of Zhen Huan to her homeland. It followed a couple years of hushed excitement as Chinese fans were fed tidbits about their proud concubine who was supposed to conquer the high ground of the North American market. Zhen Huan is, of course, the title character of The Legend of Zhen Huan, a 2011 television series that swept China off its feet and later took other Asian countries by storm. Two years ago, it was reported that HBO, a premium cable service headquartered in the United States, was going to air it in North America after some modification. Now, a condensed version that provides English subtitles but no dubbing has finally been made available on Netflix for online streaming. This version, highly anticipated as a milestone in Chinas cultural foray overseas, has been widely panned by its home audience. Retitled Empresses in the Palace, the American version has been shortened from its original 76 episodes at 45 minutes each, to six 90-minute episodes. The quick pacing threw off many native viewers, who are accustomed to a more leisurely daytime-soap-style narrative rhythm. (Chinese TV stations would run two or three episodes every day.) I did not finish the full-length version and found the truncated one not difficult to follow. Whats lost, I believe, are the interesting setups and pauses that illuminate the Chinese art of storytelling. Much of the plot is still there. It is the flavor that was sacrificed. The American edition uses the framework of the Empress Dowager in her senior years reminiscing at the beginning and the end of each episode, hinting at whats to come and recapping the key points. This device, not used in the original, is culturally understandable but artistically mediocre. What puzzles me is the two new songs for the opening and end credits. They were written in English, but sung by Chinese with an uncomfortable accent. They were obviously designed to appeal to an English-speaking base, but do not jibe with the Chinese dialogue. Speaking of the dialogue, the English translation, picked apart by some Chinese, is too literal for my taste. I can imagine a typical American hit by a flurry of royal ranks, addresses and greetings, even multiple names and titles for the same person. The first half hour must be a swamp to wade through, very much like my experience of getting through a Tolstoy tome with its endless inflections of names transliterated into lengthy Chinese. I see the choice of verbatim translation as an effort for conveying exotica. It is fairly competent, with no error that I could detect, but fails to rise above words or capture the essence of the language. A cultural product usually crosses over to a foreign territory first by an emphasis on the commonalities. But whether inside or outside China, the temptation to sell it for the differences is just too great. Sure, the sumptuous sets and costumes are a big attraction, but the narrative technique has becomehow shall I put it?a bit anglicized, which is necessary for cultural export. Judging by the responses, this legend, which, contrary to the claim of the English trailer, is totally fictitious, has departed from China but not yet landed on American shores. I am a big fan of Ralph Waldo Emersons essay titled Self-Reliance. If youve not yet read it, I strongly encourage you to do so. In this essay, the venerable Emerson talks about eschewing the trappings of society and finding ones own path. He urges the reader to find rectitude and lead a moral life. He profess