Changes

In the late 1970s, with most of the planning for World Showcase complete, Disney approached China about creating a travelogue video for the China pavilion<ref name= "Jack"> http://land.allears.net/blogs/jackspence/walt_disney_world/theme_parks/epcot/china/ </ref>. Although interested, the Chinese government was concerned about giving Westerners permission to film their country. In fact, China originally insisted that all of Disney’s filming be strictly supervised, and they refused to let Imagineers take aerial shots of Tibet or the Great Wall<ref name= "Jack"/>. Disney was uncomfortable with this agreement, and after showing Chinese officials the movie Fantasia, they were able to acquire more freedom<ref name= "Jack"/>.

After two months of scouting, filming of the film began in the fall of 1981<ref name= "Jack"/>. The film was shot in Circle Vision 360, which required crews to film on nine cameras, which were stationed on a platform. Imagineers returned to China in the winter of 1982, to record the seasonal changes, before concluding filming in the spring<ref name= "Jack"/>. In order to make the film more interesting, Disney decided to use the famous Chinese poet, Li Bai as the films narrator. Li Bai (who is known as Li Po in the West) <ref name= "book"> The EPCOT explorer's encyclopedia: R. Pedersen - Epcyclopedia Press - 2011 </ref> wrote over 1,000 poems during the Tang Period<ref name= "Jack"/>.

The completed Wonders of China film was approximately 19 minutes long, and it featured parts of China that had never been seen by most Westerners. The film opened with the rest of World Showcase on October 1, 1982. The film remained unchanged until 20052002. By 20052002, China had become both an industrial country and a popular tourist attraction. With these changes, Wonders of China began to seem dated. Imagineers eventually decided that they needed to update the film, and on March 25, 2003 2002 the Wonders of China was shown for the final time<ref name= "book"/>.

On May 23, 2005 2003 an updated version of Wonders of China made its debut in the China pavilion<ref name= "Jack"/>. The new film, known as Reflections of China, now featured Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Macau. Other scenes, including the Great Wall, Tienanmen Square, Beijing, Harbin, and Urumqi were all updated for the 21st century<ref name= "Jack"/>. For the refurbishment, all of the narration was re-dubbed, and anew score was composed by Richard Bellis<ref name= "book"/>. Since 20052003, Reflections of China has not changed.