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Feeling a surge of pride in new National Anthem Exhibition Hall

By Fei Lai | October 26, 2009, Monday | Print Edition

AN inspiring lesson in Chinese history and patriotism awaits visitors to the newly opened National Anthem Exhibition Hall, covering everything you always wanted to know about "March of the Volunteers." Fei Lai reports.

March of the Volunteers," China's national anthem, is celebrated and explored in the National Anthem Exhibition Hall recently opened in Yangpu District.

Opened for New China's 60th anniversary, the hall on Jingzhou Road is the centerpiece of the National Anthem Memorial Square, a project for patriotic education.

The two-story exhibition hall features more than 400 cultural relics, documentaries, old photos, patriotic paintings, multimedia, high technology and interactive exhibitions that cover every aspect of the famous anthem: its origins going back to 1934, different versions, history of the composers and how it came to be the song that so deeply moves the Chinese people.

It has been China's provisional anthem since the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949 - it was one of almost 7,000 proposed songs. It became the official anthem on December 4, 1982, by vote of the National People's Congress.

Nostalgia

The song was written by the noted poet and playwright Tian Han, and the music was composed two years earlier by Nie Er. It captures the spirit of fighting for the nation's independence from foreign invasion and for the rights of the Chinese people.

It was composed for a play by Tian in 1934 but became famous as the theme song of a patriotic film called "Feng Yun Er Nu" ("Sons and Daughters in a Time of Storm") in 1935.

The exhibition hall is built on the site of most of the filming long ago.

The 1,500-square-meter hall will inspire nostalgia in older Chinese and help younger people learn more about China's history.

Exhibitions feature explanations and subtitles in English and Chinese.

The first-floor section covers historical background, film studio scenes, song recording scenes, the song's premiere, how it became popular and how it was chosen as the national anthem.

Official lyrics are carved in the walls. Paintings depict how the song was sung and inspired Chinese people during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. It was sung at live-or-die moments of the struggle.

Visitors can see scores by composer Nie and the script of the film "Sons and Daughters in a Time of Storm" while an old gramophone plays the original recording.

Throughout the hall visitors also hear a recording of late Premier Zhou Enlai's address at the First Plenary Session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, announcing that "March of the Volunteers" would be the provisional national anthem.

The origins of the national flag are also explained.

The second floor features a wall of some 30 meters in length, presenting 12 paintings that relate to the anthem.

The paintings seem to be covered with the dust of time, actually a kind of virtual dust created for dramatic effect. A quick touch to the wall makes the dust disappear, then an audio clip tells the story.

Statues of both Tian and Nie, memorabilia of their lives and information about their histories and artistic achievements are displayed.

The highlight of the exhibition hall is a 360-degree cinema with 48 sound tracks of different performances of the song.

Fifty video screens show descendants of the composer and the writer, celebrities and ordinary people talking about their own stories related to the national anthem.

German designer Alexander Brandt, whose team has designed the exhibition hall, said that seeing and hearing these personal stories about "March of the Volunteers" gave him, a foreigner, a feeling for China's heartbeat.

For interaction, there's a special touch-screen map of the Earth. When a visitor touches a country, that country's national anthem is played.

To add more interaction, an e-book provides the lyrics, stories about the song and national customs.

The exhibition hall also has several multipurpose rooms for symposiums on research about the anthem and education.

"It's an exhibition hall that can keep moving us Chinese, generation after generation," says local resident Li Yun. "Here, seniors can again experience China's progress and the younger generation can get a true understanding of the hardships endured in old China.

"This inspires confidence in the country's future and ambitions for future development. The song will make us feel proud of the motherland all the time."



National Anthem Exhibition Hall

Address: 151 Jingzhou Rd

Yangpu
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