The Sand Pebbles

It's ironic that the tagline of the movie "The Sand Pebbles" is, "The story of men...who disturbed the sleeping dragon of China as the world watched in terror!" because it wasn't filmed in China, it was filmed here on Taiwan and in Hong Kong in 1966; many scenes were filmed in Danshui, Taipei County! In the movie only trees are visible on the towering Guangyin Mountain on Bali
(Taiwan's Bali, not the one in Indonesia) across the river from Danshui. Today, Bali boasts bright lights, scenic hiking trails, modern apartment complexes and upscale hot spring spas, a wonderful (yet somewhat pricey) water park, Bali Wharf, Left Bank Park and the Shihsanhang Museum of Archaeology.

Westerners were ridden around town on three-wheeled pedicabs or, as portrayed in the movie, carried around town by local guys pulling small wooden ox-cart carriages. In the scenes where the gunboat, the U.S.S. San Pablo, is surrounded by Mainland Chinese boats, the flags are those of Taiwan, the democratic Republic of China (ROC), not China, the communist People's Republic of China (PRC), although during that turbulent period in Taiwan's history Chiang Kai-shek had imposed martial law on the island. I delve deeper into Taiwan's history in my new traveler's guide, Taipei In A Day Includes: Taiwan From A To Z.

"The Sand Pebbles" stars Steve McQueen, Richard Attenborough, Richard Crenna (he later played Sylvestor Stallone's platoon commander in "Rambo"), and a very young Candice Bergen (of TV's "Murphy Brown" and currently "Boston Legal" fame). Crenna talks about going up and down the Yangtze River in China while we see Danshui, a bustling waterfront town in Taipei, and Guangyin Mountain on Bali across the river. The scene where a farmer is leading a large ox around a marsh is Hongshulin, where today people cycle from Danshui to Guandu and back along a serene bike route that runs adjacent to the MRT, alongside the Danshui River.

Some may find language used in the film to be offensive, the Westerners called the locals "slopeheads" and "coolies," and in one scene Steve McQueen remarked, "You slopeheads don't know nothin'!" "Slopeheads" is a derogatory (critical or disrespectful) term referring to people of Asian, especially Chinese, descent; "coolie" is a contemporary racial slur for people of Asian descent, including people from India and Central Asia. The term was originally used regarding Chinese railroad labor.

Overall "The Sand Pebbles" was a long (179 minutes) but surprisingly good flick, with an "intermission" (actually says "Intermission") where the film stops in the middle and soothing music plays, presumably so people in theaters could stretch their legs. What a remarkably different time, could you imagine "Rambo" stopping in the middle and hearing muzak (elevator music) so people could go to the bathroom and buy popcorn?