Located 45 kilometers north of downtown Beijing (a must-see destination for China tour deals ), Yangsong has built a reputation as a favored destination among directors and producers for shooting films and TV shows. Its mountainous terrain and sweeping plains dotted with hawthorn, pear and apricot trees makes it the ideal setting for period drama TV shows. More than 100 films and TV shows by producers from the Chinese mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong have been shot in Yangsong over the past decade. Other notable TV series shot in Yangsong have included scenes depicting Mao Zedong living in a cave in Yan'an, Shanxi Province whose capital city is Xian, a city to start Silk Road travel, during the Chinese Civil War and the famous Ningrong street from classic novel A Dream of the Red Chamber.
Since the 1990s, the booming film industry in Yangsong has helped locals eke out a more prosperous living away from agriculture.
King of the Extras
Farmer Guo Kexing, 59, recalled how different life was 18 years ago, when Yangsong was just another sleepy township in Huairou. "I depended on my crops in the past, growing wheat in autumn and corn during June," he said. "My average annual income was around 3,000 to 4,000 yuan ($476-$634) at that time."
In 1995, film company Stellar Mega-media founded the township's first film studio. The arrival of the company also brought opportunities to the villagers, with many encouraged to feature in films and TV shows as background actors, or extras.
Guo dabbled in work as an extra when he wasn't tending his crops. "They paid us about 20 yuan daily for acting," he told the Global Times. "Back then, that was more than a worker could make in the construction industry." Film companies were drawn to Guo for his honesty and tireless work ethic, leading him to be appointed as the organizer for extras half a year later.
"Film crews tell me what types of extras they want, and I recruit suitable people to fill those roles," Guo said of his business. Guo draws on his own experience as a veteran extra who has featured in more than 130 films and TV shows to train other extras before they make their debut on camera.
Problems off the set
However, Guo has found out that show business doesn't always run smoothly. From local, curious farmers keen to show off their acting talents to theater graduates eyeing their break in the film industry, there's no shortage of people hoping to make their cameo as one of Guo's hired extras. Competition for roles, no matter how small they are, is cutthroat, as too is competition between Guo's company and its rivals.
"A while ago, extras' daily payment halved from 50 yuan to 25 yuan, which persuaded many to leave. Stability in the town isn't as consistent as it was before," Guo explained.
In order to regulate the market and protect the rights of amateur actors, Guo persuaded the township's government to establish an extras' union in 2006.
Guo, with the help of his two sons, is also hoping to expand his business by finding a suitable method to reuse actors' costumes. He proudly said his income is "almost 10 times higher" than his days toiling in the field almost two decades ago.
Lights, camera, action
In 2008, another studio owned by the largest and most influential State-run film enterprise in the country, China Film Group Corporation, was established in Xiantai village, Yangsong township. Its state-of-the-art studio equipped with the latest technology and big budget props inspired the local government to build its own studio named the Xiantai Film and Culture Garden.
"More and more film crews were choosing Yangsong to shoot their productions, however daily costs that went into the tens of thousands of yuan to rent fields owned by China Film Group were too expensive for many smaller budget productions," said Hu Guangjun, party secretary of Xiantai village. "We came up with the idea to construct a cheaper, smaller studio that could meet the demands of small film crews on a tight budget."
Hu oversaw the transformation of a former pig-raising paddock into a complex consisting of three 18-meter-high studios, further cementing Yangsong's reputation as the "Hollywood of Beijing." "The rent we charge film crews is only a tenth of that charged by China Film Group," Hu said.
Shortly after Spring Festival, villagers had their first business of 2012 in the form of TV drama Three Brothers At The Battle, starring famous actors Zhang Hanyu and Liu Ye. The series' makers paid 180,000 yuan to rent a field for the three-month shoot.
"The field is almost the same as China Film Group's studio," an unnamed crew member explained. "We don't have many scenes filmed indoors, so the field suitably meets our requirements."
However, some film companies have doubts over the skills of amateur extras and the authenticity of scenarios and props from cheaper companies, such as Xiantai Film and Culture Garden. If you are interested in the film base, you can consider it for your popular China tours.
"The professionalism of services provided by amateurs remains a concern," said Lan Lan, an employee at the Beijing office of the Xi'an Film Production Company. "For example, poor cinematography of ancient scenes detract from the quality of a film or TV show."
In order to improve their services, Hu said he had invited professionals from China Film Group to train villagers.
"I am confident about our competitiveness growing stronger in the future," he said.
"Xiantai village never had any enterprise in the past, and the film and TV industry presents an opportunity for the 2,000 villagers earn a better living."
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