The Chinese Mayor (Datong)

Mayor Geng is a very proactive leader of a highly polluted city, which was the capital of China 1600 years ago. His dream is to restore and replicate the ancient city, creating a tourist destination and revitalizing the local economy. The documentary follows him around on his day to day activities. The focus of the documentary is the relocation of the illegal residents in the city center, demolition of their homes, and the recreation of the ancient city. This is an important work because it documents both methods and results in the revitalization and modernization of this part of China. Mayor Geng is relentless and achieves extraordinary success, but incomplete success, by the end of the movie when he is replaced. His goal was revitalization of Datong and it is unclear whether his efforts will result in the anticipated economic growth or a huge 'ghost city' with a large displaced residential population. The producer of the documentary gives the viewers the information, allowing them to draw their own conclusions about the merits of the project. History will be the ultimate judge. The documentary doesn't detail some relevant issues, such as why the residents who were relocated had no legal rights to the property that they occupied, see: The Hukou System. Also, preservationists are critical of the project see 'Faux Ancient City'. While pollution was cited in the introduction to the video, there was little documentation of pollution or the efforts made to deal with it.