There are lots of movies out there about China and these movies will help to inspire you to go out and travel and seek these adventure for yourself.  If you would like to learn about China’s history, culture, wildlife, and beautiful scenery or just want to be inspired to go to China before your trip, here are some of my favorite movies that truly show China.

1. Wild China:
This is awesome six-part nature documentary series that is filmed entirely in (HD), about the natural history of China. It was co-produced by the BBC Natural History Unit and China Central Television (CCTV) and is played on the Travel Channel all the time. I highly recommend seeing this six part series, it captures all of China’s most beautiful scenery’s and wildlife, and makes for a great introduction to China before you take your trip.

2. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (卧虎藏龙):
This movie was directed by Ang Lee and was released in 2000. The movie is filmed in the Chinese wuxia style of storytelling, which is filled with adventure and kung fu action. The movie features the famous Chow Yun Fat and Zhang Ziyi and has the famous fight choreographer Yuen Wo Ping who also choreographed the Matrix. The movie is a love story, a kung fu movie, a philosophical movie, and much more. This movie is filled with beautiful scenery’s all found in China and is a must see for anyone interested in China.

3.Hero (英雄)::
This is a 2002 Jet Li film directed by the famous Zhang Yimou. The movie is based on the story of Jing Ke’s assassination attempt on the King of Qin who was trying to unite all of China in 227 BC. The movie is filled with breath taking kung fu action, Chinese philosophy, and some famous beautiful locations across China. This is one of my most favorite kung fu movies.

4. Shower (洗澡):
This is a Chinese comedy-drama film that came out in 1999. Directed by a famous Chinese directors, Zhang Yang. The movie is about a father and his two sons running a Chinese bathhouse. His younger son is mentally challenged and helps him run the bathhouse every day. His Older son lives in Shenzhen doing business. One-day the older son gets a disturbing letter from his brother and thinks that his dad has died so he fly’s home to visit, and finds that it was a mistake. He stays with his father and brother to help around the bathhouse. The oldest son and father have a long-broken father-son relationship, so they work at healing it. The movie is a light-hearted comedy and explores the value of family, friendship, and tradition in Chinese culture. This movie is great for learning about Chinese culture as well as learning about Chinese life in a hutong area.

5. China- A Century of Revolution:
This is a great documentary that shows China’s long History, and also examines its social, political and cultural upheaval. The documentary is split up into three parts starting with the Chinese Revolution in 1911 to 1949. The second part is the Mao Years covering the Mao Ze Dong’s rule from 1949 to his death in 1976. The third part named Born Under The Flag, covers China’s History since 1976 and there entrance into the modern era. This is a very informative documentary and can be easily found at most libraries to be checked out. So if your interested in learning some Chinese modern history on how China became what it is today, see this documentary. If you would like to watch this documentary PBS has posted the entire documentary on Youtube.