The Changchun Film Studio is one of the oldest and most historically important film production facilities in China, established in 1945 after Soviet and then Chinese Communist forces took control of the city. It produced the first films of the People's Republic and was the centre of Chinese cinema production through much of the Maoist period, when all film production was state-controlled and all studios were politically directed.
The studio has been partially converted into a film theme park, with sets, props, and an exhibition on Chinese film history. The historical material — covering the studio's output from 1949 through the reform era — is more interesting than the theme park elements. For anyone curious about how Chinese cinema developed under the conditions of the Cultural Revolution and the post-1978 opening, this is an unusual and instructive stop. The studio is still active as a production facility alongside the public-facing sections.