Inside China: Off the Beaten Path

Have you ever been in a Chinese disco which plays that old Asian summertime favorite "Jingle Bells"? Or hiked up a sacred Buddhist mountain so lined with tacky gift shops that even the holy monkeys ask for donations? Or gone out for a day of drunken revelry with a mafia of pedicab drivers only to have them demand half a year's salary at the end of the trip for the pleasure of having entertained you? No? Well, fortunately, we have Bob Demyan and Jeff Schiro to capture these luscious and glorious memories of travel for us. Bored with stalled Hollywood film careers, Demyan and Schiro decide to head for China's back roads. Traipsing around in shorts, saddled with camera gear, and often looking a little put out, the filmmakers seem like potential poster boys for an anthology called "Bad Trips I Have Known". But with their sense of humor shining through, the pair come off as generous and thoughtful travelers, with a warm capacity for making friends, and they deliver their impressions in a charming, witty, and sometimes wryly sarcastic style. "Nothing is quite like seeing a Chinese city with a couple of drunken pedicab drivers" is such a nice way of saying "help, we've been kidnapped, our lives are in danger." Their journey is limited solely to the Yangshou region and parts of Sichuan province, specifically Leshuan and Baoguo. The philosophy of traveling which they bring to this video is sorely missing in so many more self-important and overproduced travel films. Travel is very often not fun. And it takes courage to admit that. But if you are willing to pick up a guitar and teach rock and roll to a cafe full of people or to bring a Polaroid camera, you can save the day. The music, maps, photography and writing of this piece are exceptionally good. However, the video appears to have been shot with a VHS or High 8 video camera, and the picture quality is poor. For the asking price of $175, I hope Demyan and Schiro will invest in a lightweight digital camera for their next trip. Recommended, with reservations. Aud: J, H, C, P. (R. Ray)