Foreign films in China these days are distributed in their original formats with subtitles. But in the 70s and 80s, dubbed versions were widely enjoyed instead. Voice actors from Changchun Film Dubbing Studio in northeast China's Jilin Province were substitutes for many Hollywood stars of that era. CGTN's Shen Li went there to find out more about this unique industry.

This is the birthplace of dubbing films in China. In the 1950s, the State-owned Changchun Film Dubbing Studio was established and produced the country's first dubbed film called 'Private Aleksandr Matrosov'. The studios enjoyed a golden era in the early 1980s when China began its reform and opening up to the outside world.

Chinese audiences could experience the eternal topic of love from "Roman Holiday", taste British humour from the comedy "The Million Pound Note" or be amazed by the dazzling music and dance from the Indian flick "Caravan".

WANG XIAOWEI DIRECTOR, CHANGCHUN FILM DUBBING STUDIO "Unlike nowadays when voice artists can do the voicing separately and put it together digitally, back in the old days, voice artists would gather in the studio and do the scene together. And everyone was cautious not to make a mistake, because then the whole team would have to redo the scene."

Hu Lianhua is a veteran voice artist with the Changchun Film Dubbing Studio. His most famous performance includes voicing Don Vito Corleone in "The Godfather". He says dubbing is more about acting than just delivering the lines.

HU LIANHUA VOICE ARTIST, CHANGCHUN FILM DUBBING STUDIO "From the translation stage, we try to stay as close as possible to the original scene and the lines have to synchronize with what the actor says on the screen. Most of the time we're acting instead of just voicing the part. A good voice artist has great potential to be a good actor, but not necessarily vice versa."

Thanks to the devotion of these artists, language barriers were broken. But globalization nearly silenced the public clamor for dubbed films. For studio director Wang Xiaowei, embracing new opportunities is key to reviving the nostalgic cinematic form.

WANG XIAOWEI DIRECTOR, CHANGCHUN FILM DUBBING STUDIO "In the past, it was these dubbed pictures from different nations that helped the Chinese public get its first glimpse of foreign culture. Now, we're also dubbing Chinese films and TV dramas in French, Spanish and other languages, it's mutual, the exchange of cultures. We're both introducing foreign productions and promoting our own quality productions, to keep the dubbing tradition alive and provide more choices for the audience."

SL, CGTN, CHANGCHUN, JILIN PROVINCE.