China — Watch Farewell My Concubine Before You Go

China is not a country that reveals itself quickly. It is vast, complex, and layered with histories that stretch back thousands of years. For travellers, this makes China endlessly fascinating. From the imperial grandeur of Beijing and the classical gardens of Suzhou to the karst landscapes of Guilin and the futuristic skylines of Shanghai, China offers a scale and diversity unlike anywhere else. To visit China is to encounter multiple worlds at once: ancient traditions practiced in modern cities, rural landscapes shaped by centuries of agriculture, and a society negotiating rapid change while remaining deeply conscious of its past.

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Yet for many visitors, China can also feel challenging to understand. Language, customs, and political history may feel distant at first. One of the most rewarding ways to prepare for a journey is through Chinese cinema, which offers emotional and cultural insight that guidebooks often cannot. Few films do this better than Farewell My Concubine.

Landscapes, Cities, and Continuity

China’s appeal lies not just in its landmarks, but in its continuity. The Great Wall is not a single monument but a series of defences built over centuries. Temples, hutongs, and markets exist alongside high-speed rail and glass towers. This sense of historical layering is something visitors quickly notice: the past is not confined to museums but embedded in daily life.

Travel in China often involves contrasts — serenity followed by intensity, tradition followed by innovation. One moment you might be walking through a quiet temple courtyard, the next navigating a vast transport hub filled with movement and noise. Understanding this rhythm is key to appreciating the country, and Chinese cinema has long been a powerful way of expressing it.

Ang Lee and the Global Breakthrough

For many international audiences, Chinese-language cinema first made a deep impression through Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000). Though directed by a Taiwanese filmmaker and produced across several regions, the film introduced global viewers to the elegance and emotional depth of the wuxia tradition — stories of martial artists, honour, restraint, and longing.

The film’s sweeping landscapes, airborne sword fights, and unspoken emotions resonated far beyond China. It suggested that Chinese stories could be both culturally specific and universally understood. For travellers, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon captures something essential: the way nature, philosophy, and personal duty intertwine in Chinese storytelling. Watching it before visiting China sharpens your awareness of how landscape and emotion are often linked, whether in mist-covered mountains or carefully composed gardens.

Yet while Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon offers a romantic, mythic vision of China, another film provides something deeper and more challenging.

Why Farewell My Concubine Matters

Chen Kaige’s Farewell My Concubine (1993) is widely regarded as one of the greatest Chinese films ever made. Spanning more than fifty years of Chinese history, it tells the story of two Peking Opera performers and the woman who comes between them, set against the backdrop of war, revolution, and political upheaval.

Watching this film before visiting China provides invaluable context. It explores themes that are central to understanding modern China: loyalty and betrayal, personal identity versus collective pressure, and the cost of survival during periods of extreme change. The film moves through the Japanese occupation, the Chinese Civil War, and the Cultural Revolution, showing how political movements intrude into private lives.

For visitors, this historical awareness is crucial. China’s recent past continues to shape its present in subtle ways. Monuments, silences, and sensitivities often make more sense when you understand the weight of what has been endured.

Art, Performance, and Identity

At the heart of Farewell My Concubine is Peking Opera — an art form that combines music, movement, costume, and symbolic gesture. The film reveals how deeply traditional arts were once woven into social life, and how fragile they became during periods of political extremism.

When travelling in China, visitors will encounter opera houses, traditional theatres, and performances that might otherwise feel decorative or remote. After watching the film, these experiences gain depth. You begin to see how performance was once a lifelong discipline, shaping identity itself, and how artists were both celebrated and punished depending on the political climate.

The film also addresses gender and performance in ways that feel strikingly modern. Its exploration of identity, repression, and emotional survival resonates long after the final scene.

Preparing to See China More Clearly

China is not a destination that can be fully understood through surface impressions alone. Its politeness, reserve, and formality often mask deeper emotional and historical currents. Farewell My Concubine prepares viewers to recognise these layers.

It encourages patience, empathy, and attentiveness — qualities that make travel in China more rewarding. Whether you are walking through Beijing’s hutongs, visiting a museum, or watching locals practise tai chi in a park, the film helps you appreciate the unspoken context behind what you see.

Visiting China after watching Farewell My Concubine is not about seeking out the film’s locations, but allowing the country’s beauty, contradictions, and complexities to come into sharper focus when you understand how deeply history has shaped individual lives.