Promotional material for Mr. Deng Goes to Washington Photo: Courtesy of Lü Muzi

Not just a significant diplomatic event in Chinese history, former country leader Deng Xiaoping's nine-day visit to the US in 1979 has been recognized as an event that helped reshape the face of global politics at the time. For years questions about his visit such as how he survived an assassination attempt in a foreign country have stirred people's curiosity over the years.

New documentary Mr. Deng Goes to Washington, in theaters Friday, looks to make the more mysterious details of his visit public for the first time ever.

Attending a total of over 80 major activities, 20 official banquets and 10 news press conferences, Deng barely took a moment to breath during his visit up until he fell ill and suffered from a low fever. To give audiences a better idea of how Deng's visit played out, the documentary, according to producer Lü Muzi, was shot following the same route that Deng followed back in 1979.

"We interviewed those people that were present for the different occasions that Deng attended," said Lü. Interviewees including former US President Jimmy Carter, former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and former US security guard head Paul Kelly all appear in the documentary to share their experiences during Deng's visit.

"If we look at that visit through the lens of fashionable Internet thinking today, it was actually the biggest political and commercial road show in history for a financially poor China at the time," said Fu Hongxing, director of the documentary. "Deng was there to show China's determination in implementing its opening-up policy. After the road show was over, China got 'listed' and even today the country's 'marketing value' is still rising."