Promotion of Chinese Documentary "Looking for Shainov" Held in Moscow

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• USA - Pусский

CHENGDU, China, Jan. 30, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The promotion of "Looking for Shainov," a documentary organized by the Information Office of Chengdu Municipal People's Government and Chengdu Radio & Television, was held on January 26th at the Moscow House of Nationalities . The organizer screened the documentary at the promotion venue, and briefed the Russian audience on the bumpy yet happy life of Sudan Shainov, a Russian who had lived in China for over 60 years. The organizers come from Chengdu, the megalopolis central city in Western China, the one that is seeking to become a world renowned cultural city.

Shainov was born in 1893 in the Orenburg, a southwestern Russian city. After graduating from a local normal school, he worked as a primary school teacher. Unwilling to participate in World War I, Shainov moved all the way to China in 1919 by way of Harbin, Shanghai, Wuhan and Chongqing, eventually settling down in Chengdu, where he got married and raised children. Shainov enlisted and participated in the China's War of Resistance against Japan (1937-1945). After the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, Shainov worked first as a Russian teacher at Chengdu No.7 High School and then as a mechanic in the auto repair shop of Taiyuan Railway Locomotive Depot until his retirement in 1961. Shainov passed away at 91 in 1984.

In his later years, Shainov was sentimentally attached to his hometown and relatives in Russia. To fulfill his last wish, Shainov's grandchildren, with the assistance of the relevant parties, started their search for relatives in Russia in 2013. The search is still under way.

At the promotion, the organizer presented visitors with the Russian and Chinese versions of Sixty Years: the Legendary Story of a Russian in China. The book not only details the life of Shainov, but also quotes extensively from his memoirs.

Professor Lyubov from the Pushkin State Russian Language Institute in Russia once taught at Sichuan University. She provided help to Shainov's grandchildren in finding their relatives in Russia. In an interview with Xinhua News Agency, she said, "Non-governmental diplomatic channels play a significant role in bringing together people from different countries. The reason why many like-minded friends and I are willing to act as a go-between for the 'Looking for Shainov' journey is that we expect Russian and Chinese people to take this as an opportunity to deepen mutual understanding."

Li Chuan, Director of Chengdu Radio & Television, said that they went to Shainov's hometown with documentaries and books for two purposes. On the one hand, they hoped the soul of this Russian overseas wanderer would return to hometown; on the other hand, they wanted to establish friendship with the Russian people, and expected that the friendly cooperation between the two peoples would yield more results.