Shanghai is China’s financial capital and is also the main centre for advertising. Beijing is the cultural capital of China and focuses more on TV and film production. Although low-skilled labour costs in China may be low, the cost of professional crew and filming in China is on par with wealthy Western countries. The cost of shooting in Shanghai and Beijing is on par with any other major international cities like Tokyo, London, or New York. China has a good pool of local English speaking directors, directors of photography and stills photographers including many expats now based in China. Crews are non-union. Although crews understand the language of film many are not fluent in English. ​