Big Bird in China was a 1983 special produced by the Children's Television Workshop (now Sesame Workshop) and CCTV. It was originally broadcast on May 29 1983 on NBC. The special was based on the popular television series Sesame Street. Big Bird, Barkley and Little Xiao Foo travel through China to find Feng Huang, the Phoenix bird.
The story starts in New Yorks China Town where Big Bird spies an old scroll with a picture of a beautiful phoenix on it. The shop keeper explains that the phoenix is magical and lives in China. It won't be easy to find and Big Bird will have to find the four places pictured on the scroll, and in each place he'll get a clue from a monkey to find the phoenix. There is a sand timer which he must beat in solving the clues given by the monkey. Big Bird thinks "Well, what a good thing it would be if a great big American bird went to meet that beautiful Chinese bird! I mean, she could tell me everything about China, and then I could come home and tell everybody here!" So, he sets out with Barkley on a boat and makes it to China.
Highlights include Chinese landmarks like the Great Wall of China and Beijing, Big Bird learning the "little duckling dance", and a song to teach Chinese words. A character called The Monkey King appears in the special; despite an appearance that has scared many youngsters, he helps Big Bird and Xiao Foo in their quest. Big Bird wears a tie for the entire movie which is a change from his normal appearance. Oscar decides to try and dig his way to China from his trash can and when he gets to China he decides it seems kinda boring and goes straight home.
The production was released onto DVD February 10, 2004. The DVD lacks about a minute of the original production, in which Big Bird is looking for someone who speaks "American" (it can be seen for comical and total political incorrectness on the VHS version).
Big Bird and his Sesame Street companion, Barkley, the big, fluffy dog, travel across China in search of the legendary Feng Huang, the Phoenix Bird. Along the way they visit with Chinese schoolchildren, watch a Tai Ji demonstration, learn some Chinese words and songs, and meet the mischievous Monkey King. Written by Doug Mulhaire
