For seventy years, the "bamboo curtain" has protected China from the prying eyes of the West. Now, for the first time, Western filmmakers have been allowed inside the world's most enigmatic country to reveal its forbidden history. From the romance of 1920's Shanghai to Mao's bloodthirsty Cultural Revolution, from the age of warlords and Japanese invaders to the era of the Avon lady, CHINA RISING tells the complete story of modern China. Never-before-seen archival footage offers a privileged view of some of this century's most dramatic events, including the Northern Expedition of Chiang Kai-shek, the Long March, the Gang of Four trial, and Tiananmen Square. Most remarkably, CHINA RISING includes vivid interviews with leaders, soldiers, judges, revolutionaries, warlords and ordinary citizens who lived through China's tumult and have held their secrets for decades.