Produced and published by 上海长宁 · Shanghai Changning, Docu China, August 26, 2026.
Unable to understand the lyrical words of Kunqu Opera or discern the refined procedures of a traditional tea ceremony, Marios Joannou Elia — an internationally renowned composer from Cyprus — nevertheless broke free from the constraints of words and prescribed forms. Relying purely on his sense of hearing, he directed «Sounds of Shanghai», a documentary on intangible cultural heritage. Through the borderless language of sound, the film presents to the world the beauty of China’s intangible cultural heritage and the distinctive rhythms of Shanghai.
When Marios first arrived in Shanghai, he knew very little about China’s intangible cultural heritage. That changed when he visited the studio of Zhao Jinyu, a bearer of the Kunqu Opera tradition. There, a passage from «The Peony Pavilion» unfolded in Kunqu’s melodious and gently flowing shuimo—or “water-polished”—vocal style. Although Marios could not understand the lyrics or the deeply affecting tale of love, joy, and sorrow they conveyed, the time-honoured singing, transcending the boundaries of language, touched him profoundly.
That sudden moment of emotion gave rise to a single-minded creative ambition: to make a documentary devoted specifically to the sounds of Shanghai’s intangible cultural heritage.
Zhao Jinyu was initially somewhat hesitant. Throughout her career promoting intangible cultural heritage, she had participated in countless interdisciplinary experiments, but this was the first time she had encountered an attempt to tell its stories with sound at the centre.
«When we talk about intangible cultural heritage, we are always talking about what we can see—how exquisite the embroidery is, how elaborate the tea ceremony is, and how graceful the qipao looks,» she said. «Yet we rarely quieten down and listen to the captivating sounds behind these traditions. Marios’s arrival opened an entirely new auditory window for communicating intangible cultural heritage.»
Marios extracted a melody from «The Peony Pavilion» and made it the musical theme of the entire documentary. It serves both as a tribute to Kunqu Opera and as the film’s emotional anchor. Meanwhile, a cross-disciplinary creative team quickly came together, bringing together traditional Chinese instrumental music, tai chi, Gu embroidery, the tea ceremony, qipao, Shijin fine gong-and-drum music, and shadow puppetry. These seemingly unrelated forms of intangible cultural heritage were linked by an invisible thread—and that thread was sound.
To reproduce the most authentic sounds and rhythms of these traditions, Marios rejected deliberately staged demonstrations before the camera and embarked on an intensive exercise in «auditory archaeology.» Carrying recording equipment, he ventured deep into embroidery studios, teahouses, martial arts halls, and theatres, dedicating himself to capturing the subtle, little-known, and easily overlooked sounds of intangible cultural heritage.
When filming Gu embroidery, for example, Marios did not point the camera at the finished work. Instead, he focused for an extended period on the embroiderer’s hands. What he wanted to record was the precise instant when the tip of the needle pierced the fabric: an extremely soft, delicate, almost inaudible puff, together with the crisp snip of scissors cutting through silk thread.
Zhao was deeply impressed by this meticulous attention to detail.
«We are constantly surrounded by intangible cultural heritage, yet we had never noticed these tiny, fragmentary sounds,” she said. “More remarkable still, the director incorporated the sounds of embroidery, breathing, and the tension of silk thread into the score, so that every passage of music contains the warmth and texture of intangible cultural heritage.»
From the sound of the soles of the feet brushing against the floor during tai chi movements, to the varying murmur of water being poured during a tea ceremony, and the rhythm created as the high heels of women dressed in qipao struck the ground, Marios acted like the conductor of an urban symphony, weaving the sounds of intangible cultural heritage into the beautiful notes of his musical work.
The value of «Sounds of Shanghai» lies not only in documenting and preserving the sounds of intangible cultural heritage, but also in using sound to construct Shanghai’s temporal and spatial dimensions, linking the city’s past, present, and future.
Through Marios’s lens, Shanghai is not only the Lujiazui skyline and the historic water town of Zhujiajiao. It is also Shanghai-style jazz at Jazz at Lincoln Center Shanghai and the sounding of ships’ horns along the Huangpu River. Together with the urban symphony reflected in the glass curtain walls of the city’s skyscrapers, these sounds form a complete portrait of Shanghai.
«Shanghai is a city determined to build tomorrow, but its roots are planted in the past,” Marios said. “What I wanted to present was the coexistence of the past, present, and future within this city. Intangible cultural heritage is precisely the living medium that connects these three dimensions.»
During post-production, Marios introduced a number of new technologies to expand the expressive possibilities of sound. Samples of traditional instruments were electronically processed and interwoven with modern sound effects, while ambient sounds recorded on location were rearranged to create a richly layered soundscape. The film’s overall auditory experience combines classical tranquillity with a contemporary edge.
Yang Li of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Division of the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism spoke highly of the film.
«The film’s greatest highlight is its original auditory narrative, which creates an immersive audiovisual experience,” she said. “It interprets a city through a language that the entire world can understand.»
After two years of careful refinement, «Sounds of Shanghai» premiered in Asia at the Hongqiao Art Centre on June 27. Bearers of intangible cultural heritage traditions, cultural scholars, international guests, and local residents gathered to listen together to this cross-cultural feast of sound.
As she watched these living forms of intangible cultural heritage come vividly to life on the screen, Zhao felt tears welling in her eyes.
«For many years, I have had one wish: to bring Kunqu Opera to audiences throughout the world,” she said. “Today, through Marios’s lens, I saw the possibility of that wish becoming a reality.»
Marios, the Cypriot director who still cannot speak Chinese fluently, simply smiled quietly. For him, making the documentary had also been a process of personal healing.
«Before I came to Shanghai, I thought language would be the greatest barrier,” he reflected. “But after completing this film, I realised that what can truly cross national borders is not the written word, but sound. Sound requires no translation; it is already a universal language.»
«Sounds of Shanghai» will subsequently be screened overseas. Drawing on its international creative perspective, the film seeks to overcome the limitations traditionally associated with presenting intangible cultural heritage, share Shanghai’s distinctive appeal, and encourage international audiences to discover the city and experience China’s intangible cultural heritage.