KwanTeo Film Archive · Topic
Feature Films Shot in Chaoshan
潮汕取景拍摄的电影长片From Shanghai Huaju's 1926 visit to Shantou to the 2026 releases of A Love Letter to Grandma and Where the Sun Shines Bright — over a century, cameras have returned to Chaoshan again and again. This topic collects feature-length films shot in Shantou, Chaozhou, and Jieyang: 26 films, from silent-era productions to contemporary theatrical releases, tracing a spatial history of Chaoshan cinema.
About the Topic
The 1920s: Early Filmmaking in Chaoshan
In 1926, director Chen Tian led the Shanghai Huaju Film Company to Shantou to shoot White Hibiscus, Slave of Love, and Pearl of the Night — among the earliest recorded location shoots by outside studios in the region. Around the same time, Cai Chusheng's slapstick short A Fool's Fortune was filmed and screened in Shantou, marking the start of his career. In 1927, the local Shantou Xinxing Model Film Studio released The Romance of Chivalry, the first feature produced locally, showing the region's active participation in early Chinese cinema.
The 1970s–1980s: Outside Studios Shoot in Shantou
Cranes of the Sea (Beijing Film Studio, 1975), Red Peony (Changchun Film Studio, 1980), and The Call of the Sea (Beijing Film Studio, 1982) all shot in Shantou. In 1984, Yim Ho's Homecoming filmed in the ancient village of Gezhou, Haojiang District; in 1989, Mabel Cheung's Eight Taels of Gold — the final chapter of her "Migration Trilogy," winner of Best Original Film Score at the 9th Hong Kong Film Awards — was also shot in Gezhou, using the qiaoxiang landscape to carry a story of migrant return.
Since the 2010s: Local Creation and Commercial Shoots
Tuolian (2012) used Shantou Jinshan High School as its story's prototype setting; university works such as Shantou Story (2012) and Blessed by the Gods (2014, shot at Xiangyuan and Tianhou Temple in Shantou) continued the thread of young local creators; Ride the Dragon (2017) is known as "the first triad film of Chaoshan," in the Chaoshan dialect with local locations. In 2018, Proud of Me began production at Chaoshan High School, becoming a landmark in Chaoshan-dialect theatrical cinema (47 million RMB box office). In 2019, Hero Song — the first feature about Yingge dance — was launched and shot in Puning, Jieyang. In 2021, the Chaoshan-dialect music film Lao Ye Bao Hao drew 95% of its locations from Puning and won Best Directorial Debut at the Vancouver Chinese Film Festival. Back to Love (2022) drew 80% of its locations from Chaoshan, while Han Han's Only Fools Rush In made Nan'ao Island one of its primary settings. The Storm (2023), inspired by Shantou's underground "Red Communication Line" history, filmed on location at Xiaogongyuan. In 2024, Against the Wind started production at Jinshan High School, and WAY DOWN WE GO returned to the directors' hometown in Chaoshan, screening at FIRST International Film Festival. In 2025, Xia Yulai shot across three cities — the Chen Cihong Mansion in Chenghai, Longhu Old Town in Chaozhou, and the Nanxi water town in Jieyang — as a full Chaoshan-dialect costume comedy; The Little Pigeon's Home is set in late-1990s Chaozhou with 95% of its dialogue in the Chaozhou dialect. In 2026, A Love Letter to Grandma sparked "following the films to travel Shantou" tourism, Do Not Want to Lose You was shot throughout the Chaonan district of Shantou, and Lan Canzhao's Where the Sun Shines Bright — shot in Chifeng Town, Chaozhou — had its world premiere at the Moscow International Film Festival.
From silent-era features to contemporary theatrical releases, from outside crews to local youth, these 26 films trace a century of Chaoshan as a site of cinema — cameras have come to this land again and again, and carried it back to audiences far beyond.