FILMING of a documentary to introduce the charm of the old city to foreign friends was completed June 5.

    The documentary, featuring culture, art and the environment was jointly organized by China Central Television (CCTV), the Qingdao Municipal Government, Beach House Production Co. in Singapore and Lonely Planet Productions in Australia. It will be aired on Discovery Channel.

    “I like drinking Tsingtao beer and have a better understanding of the city during the Beijing Olympics. But this time I found Qingdao’s charm was far more. It attracts people in many ways,” said director of the documentary from Singapore, identified only as Kenny.

    The documentary not only focuses on introducing a city’s tourism attractions but also local people’s social lives and characters. In the program, the host comes to a strange city and finds a contact person and gets to know more people recommended by the contact. The local people work in different areas and live in different life circles, representing the different sides of the city.

    In the Qingdao program, the English host, identified as Connie, first came to Shazikou port with local chef Li Tong and then went to eat at the city’s best-known seafood restaurant.

    In cultural and art circles, Connie met several local artists, such as plant artist Damao, musician Shazhou and cultural celebrity Rock.They show Connie the avant-garde art scene in Qingdao and experience rock climbing on Laoshan Mountain. Shazhou even recorded a song with Connie. A young Qingdao girl, Zhu Lei, who was also a national wine-taster, took Connie to experience the city’s beer culture, while an American student living in Qingdao showed Connie the ciy’s European-style old buildings.

    “It is an amazing experience and Kenny and I wanted to buy an apartment and visit here regularly,” Connie said.

    The documentary is filming six cities in China. The others include Shanghai, Nanjing, Chengdu, Xiamen and Xi’an. Each city will be made into one episode of about 45 minutes. It will be aired on Discovery Channel at the end of the year.

    (Wang Yuanyuan, Wang Pin)