Tania Branigan, China's Extras Line up to Chase Hollywood Dream; Scores of hopefuls descend on Beijing studio each day hoping to play their part in the country's burgeoning film industry. Guardian, May 31, 2013. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/ ... ras-hollywood-dream
(Of the contemporary Chinese films and stacked against his personal experience, a Beijing extra named Zhao Benyi observes: "The Japanese troops are uglier than those he remembers of old. The Chinese are better fed, their weapons more impressive")
Note: "Zhao said the story of WANG Baoqiang, who became a star after a director chose him for the bleak but gripping drama Blind Shaft, inspired many more to gather at the gates."