China Synopsis
沿江而上
A luxury cruise boat motors up the Yangtze – navigating the mythic waterway known in China simply as "The River." The Yangtze is about to be transformed by the biggest hydroelectric dam in history. At the river's edge – a young woman says goodbye to her family as the floodwaters rise towards their small homestead. The Three Gorges Dam – contested symbol of the Chinese economic miracle – provides the epic backdrop for Up the Yangtze, a dramatic feature documentary on life inside modern China.
The 2006–2008 China Window
Up the Yangtze holds position #16 of 56 China films in the 2006–2008 window, below highlighted by audience rating.
The 2000s China Landscape
Catalog density by release year across the 2000s in China, 142 titles in total. Highlighted year (yellow) is when Up the Yangtze premiered alongside 21 others.
Position in Catalog
Released alongside 21 other China films in 2007.
The 167th China title from China we index (earliest catalogued entry: 1935).
Our China catalog contains 946 titles in total (747 films).
Audience Engagement
19 audience reviews — more than 38% of China films in our index.
Popularity sits at the 8th percentile among China films.
Thematic Fingerprint
Tags on Up the Yangtze, grouped by how common each theme is across the full Asian catalog. Rare tags are more distinctive signals.
- family history · 4
- tourist · 3
- forced relocation · 2
- peasant · 7
- modern china · 7
Reception Benchmarks
Ranked #290 of 946 China films indexed here (69th percentile by TMDB audience score).
Rating is +0.5 points above the China average of 6.7/10.
Among China Documentary productions specifically: #33 of 52 (top 63%).
Production Details
| Primary Country | China |
|---|---|
| All Production Countries | Canada, China |
| Original Language | Chinese |
| Spoken Languages | Mandarin, English |
| Runtime | 1h 33m |
| Release Date | September 30, 2007 |
| IMDb | tt1114277 |