NATIONAL HERO: Zhang Zhengxiang, a farmer in Kunming, Yunnan Province, shows up in China's national image video in recognition of his unremitting efforts to guard a local lake against pollution (CFP)

The persons appearing in Experience China, though not elected by voters, were carefully chosen, Zhu said. He said that they had discussed the issue with scholars specializing in communications and the Information Office of the State Council, China's cabinet, who commissioned the production of the videos.

Nonetheless, Zhu admits Experience China is too short to convey a complete image of China. "The video only portrays some outstanding Chinese people, whereas it has not said much about the society they live in and how today's China interacts with the world," he told Beijing Times.

Zhu said the 60-second video was meant to be eye-catching, whereas the longer China on the Way elaborates on the national image in greater detail.

In the second video, "I would like to tell them about China's environmental protection, education, modernization and the democratic process," Zhu said.

Nowadays, many foreigners still know little more about China than its four great inventions in ancient times including papermaking, movable type printing, compass and gunpowder, Peking Opera or martial arts, said Zhu. Through the longer video, he said he wanted to show a changing China.

True life

China on the Way covers topics such as village elections to reflect China's political progress as well as social issues such as the difficulties confronting migrant workers and their families.

Different from the first video, it primarily features the faces of ordinary people, said Gao Xiaolong, Chief Director of the videos.

To capture real scenes, the production team traveled to many places in the country, including Tibet, Xinjiang Uygur and Inner Mongolia autonomous regions.

The team divided into groups and took their video cameras to the streets. They walked along the streets or rode subways and buses, looking for their targets.

Zuo Yifei, one of the executive directors of the second video, told Xinhua News Agency he usually snapped street scenes with hidden cameras.

When walking in an underground passage near Beijing's Xizhimen area, he saw a street artist performing, and a passerby was moved to tears. He captured the scene, which was incorporated into the video.

To shoot the scene of an elderly citizen doing morning exercises, Gao said they followed elderly citizens for days, until one day they got a satisfactory picture.

Gao said the filming process took about three months, and more than 3,000 scenes were shot, with about 800 scenes eventually selected for the video.

Comments

In the eyes of an advertising specialist, Times Square is a dream, where the biggest screen is as tall as a four-story building and every day about 70,000 people see the ads, Shen said.

The videos have impressed some passersby. "It is very moving because it shows different people and their fields of interest, where they work, and I think it could be inspirational in a way,'' a woman passing by Times Square told the Voice of America.

A man told the Voice of America, "It's a great video. If I had put the video together, I would be a little more specific about who those people were. And a little more education for us, as to how we can get to know those people and Chinese culture and industry."

A high school student told Xinhua News Agency the video was well made. She said that she had lived in New York for 18 years and it was the first time for her to see so many Chinese people on the big screens at Times Square, each wearing a smile and looking very happy.

"The airing of the video coincides with President Hu Jintao's visit to the United States. Selection of this opportunity shows China's growing awareness as to how to promote itself," said Chen Gang, Deputy Dean of the School of Journalism and Communication of Peking University.

In recent years, China has been boosting its international image through public relations.

In 2009, the Ministry of Commerce, in partnership with four industry groups in China, launched a 30-second advertisement promoting products made in China on CNN. The advertisement highlighting Chinese companies' cooperation with overseas firms to produce high-quality goods was the Chinese Government's first ever overseas branding campaign.

Sun Yingchun, a professor at the School of Foreign Studies of the Communication University of China, believes it is a progress to have the country represented by individuals. But he said the video alone was not enough to show China's image, as the "image of a country should be exhibited in all aspects like politics, economics, society and culture."

Wang Xiaoyu, a cultural scholar, said the happiness of regular people in their own country best mirrors a country's image.