Are you one of the patrol?
Yes
Good.
One of Ritai's men?
Yeah.
Fine, then cut him loose.
What are you Looking at! Don't stop.
Hold the leg up.
Turn the head a bit.
Give me the knife.
Kekexili,
the last virgin wilderness of China.
This plain nearly four miles high,
is the only remaining habitat of the Tibetan antelope.
In 1985
Poachers began hunting antelopes for their fine wool
which was prized in foreign markets.
Within a few years,
the number of antelopes plunged from one million to under ten thousand.
To fight the poachers, a volunteer civilian patrol was formed in 1993.
It was led by Ritai a retired Tibetan army officer.
The patrol fought fierce battles with the poachers
and aroused the attention of the outside world.
In the winter of 1996,
Poachers murdered one of the patrol men.
My newspaper quickly sent me to cover the story.
(Tibetan) Hey Mister. Take our picture. Good morning.
(Tibetan) Where's Ritai?
(Tibetan) Ritai! Ritai!
(Tibetan) He's over there!
(Tibetan) Thanks!
Good Morning.
I'm Ritai.
I'd like tointerview you.
Who are you?
What?
Do you have some ID?
I'm a reporter from Beijing.
I don't have time.
Wait a second!
You want this place to be declared as a nature preserve area
Maybe I can help.
(Tibetan) Dawa Dawa
Yes
Take him upstairs.
Your bag, follow me.
(Tibetan) Prepare dinner.
(Tibetan) Okay.
You are...
Yangjin
Are you Ritai's daughter?
(Tibetan) Yes
What are you reading?
Just some documents.
Oh
(Tibetan) Get some rest.
Where's Liu Dong?
Sit.
Here, have some meat.
(Tibetan) You're cutting in the wrong direction.
You understand Tibetan?
(Tibetan) My father's a Tibetan.
Tibetan always point knives toward themselves.
(Tibetan) Samba Cha Cha Cha...
Samba Samba Cha Cha Cha...
Dragon Dragon Cha Cha Cha...
You cheat, you Iost it!
Liu Dong, drink up!
Let me drinkit for him.
Liu Dong, let's go.
Songji.
What's wrong? Where are you going?
(Tibetan) None of your business!
Honey, where are you going? Liu Dong!
Liu Dong.
Yes.
Give me a hand.
Take your guns.
Give me a hand.
Ok
We're goinginto the mountains. Hopin.
(Tibetan) Come back alive!
Take care yourself!
Midnight of November 1st, 1996
Here is a truck.
We have a check point here.
Can you catch poachers here?
Maybe.
We're close to the antelope breeding grounds.
They often pass by this road.
Where are you coming from?
Wudao liang construction site.
Where are you going?
Ge'ermu.
We're the mountain patro I.
We'll check your cargo, get out.
Do you have pelts with you?
No.
What are those?
It's cotton!
One more time! What is it?
It's antelope wool! Move over!
Get off!
What will you do with him?
Let him go.
He's just a carrier.
We don't have the power to arrest anybody,
just to confiscate the pelts.
Day 2: Budong springs conservation station
AWang, he's a reporter from Beijing.
Hello!
He'll make you a big star!
Alright!
Have a seat.
Here are the supplies for this month.
Great! Put themin the corner.
AWang, hurry up with dinner.
(Tibetan) OK
My radiois broken. What's the latest news?
(Tibetan) Qiangba's not with us anymore.
(Tibetan) Chasing another girl?
He was killed.
You be careful!
(Tibetan song) I Give This Song to the White Temple...
I Sing This Song for the White Temple...
I Give This Song to the White Temple...
I Sing This Song for the White Temple...
I Give This Song to the White Temple...
I Sing This Song for the White Temple...
Bless you! Be careful! See you!
(Tibetan) Bless you!
He has stationed there all by himself...
Yes, he has been there for three years.
He keeps the poachers away.
Three years...
We are short of hands.
We have no enough people
Day 3: Zhuonai lake
403404405...
Are there all Tibetan antelopes?
(Tibetan) Bastards
You! Come here!
Where are you from?
Suihua.
What are you doing here?
Collecting worms.
Seen any poachers?
Yes
How many?
I don't know.
What about you?
I saw some.
How many?
Don't know.
Don't lie to us!
We closed our eyes when they started shooting.
It was too dark, we saw nothing.
Do you have a fishing permit?
No
Fine them.
We bury more than 10,000 antelopes each year.
Day 5: Yak Valley
No gas.
It's them!
They were here not a long ago.
Let's go.
Day 7 Cumar River
That's them! Over there!
Stop! All of you!
Don't move! All of you!
Hold it there!
Get down on the ground!
Take off your pants. Cross the river.
Don't move!
Down on the ground!
All of you!
Captain, they don't have pelts or guns!
Down on the ground!
Where's his injury?
His leg.
There's no hope.
It's the artery.
I don't want to die!
What's your name?
Ma Rui.
Where are you from?
Hua long.
How old are you?
Have you ever killed any antelopes?
Please help me!
(Tibetan prayer)
Take them across the river.
Hurry! Kneel down!
Ma Zhanlin, do you have anything to say this time?
Let me have another coat...
I'm freezing cold.
Where's your boss?
We just skin them.
Don't lie!
That's all I do...
Tell us the truth.
I don't know anything...
Are you the gunman?
No!
You're the gunman!
No, I'm not.
Then what do you do?
I'm a driver.
Who's the gunman?
I don't know
Who knows?
My son is not the gunman!
Who is the gunman?
I really don't know.
Who knows?
He knew! He hired us.
Ma Zhanlin, cut the crap!
I'm just a driver...
You're the gunman?
No! I'm the driver!
Then tell us who the gunman is?
I don't know. They're lying.
I really don't know.
They say you'rein charge.
They're lying to save themselves.
Why are you still here if you're the driver?
The truck broke down, I couldn't fix it.
They can't see you now. Talk!
I really don't know anything.
This is your last chance...
I really can't he I p.
Talk!
I know nothing...
I just drive the truck...
I don't know. I really don't...
Talk to us!
I don't know anything...
Talk!
I know nothing...
Talk to us!
I know nothing...
Let me go
Talk to us!
Talk now or I'll shoot you!
I don't know anything...
I know nothing...
Talk now or I'll shoot you!
Alright I'll tell you. Don't kill me.
The pelts are here...
Dig!
They're all here. There are more underneath...
How many do we have?
547, mostly female.
Now it's the breeding season. What a shame.
The gunman got away.
What about the men you captured?
They were from small caliber rifles.
The real gunmen use machine guns.
I've been chasing them for years.
Can I have one?
Thanks.
What do you do?
I skin the animals.
How much do they pay you?
Five Yuan for each pelt.
I'm the fastest skinner in Ge'ermu.
All my children are here too.
He's my oldest, the middle one and the youngest.
They're all skinners.
In the past, I was a shepherd.
I herded sheep, cattle and camels.
Now the grasslands have turned into desert.
The sheep and cattle are all gone dead or sold off.
It's tough to survive here.
I need to pee.
Me too.
Alright stop yelling.
Gayu hand me the bucket.
I want to pee.
Take your turn.
The gunman had to cross this river...
if they're heading north.
It's crossable.
(Tibetan) 1, 2, 3
Get up and help!
Who wants a drink?
Day 9
Rope.
Everyone gets a half.
I want more! I haven't had anything in days!
We are sharing our food with you! That's all you got!
Thank you.
(Tibetan song) Like flowing water...
Oh, dear mother... no matter how far I travel...
I shall return... no matter how far I travel...
Clouds of brilliant white please deliver my message,
I long for home...
I pray for you in my heart...
Get inside! Turn around!
Can't sleep?
Air is thin up here. It's better outside the car.
Your nose is bleeding again.
It's alright.
It's beautiful!
Isn't it.
I get homesick every time I go out on patrol.
Even the lights in the highway remind me of home.
But when I'm home I start thinking of Kekexili.
Do you know what does Kekexili mean in Tibetan?
It means beautiful mountains and girls.
Isn't it.
In Kekexili,
each step may be the first human footprint ever,
ever in that spot since the world began.
Those are not my words.
Two years ago a geologist came from Beijing.
I took him to Kekexili and he said that to me.
Later the geologist was missing.
No one has seen him since then.
There's a lot of quicksand around here.
(Tibetan) You idiot!
Where are the poachers?
Where are they?
Ma Zhanlin escaped with his sons.
When did you fall asleep?
Around 5 AM.
Captain...
Let go of me!
Hunt them down!
Stop!
Stop! Did you hear me.
Get down! Down!
Watch him!
Get up!
Where's the key?
I don't have it.
I really don't have it.
What's this?
What's wrong?
Pulmonary edema.
Water?
There isn't any.
I can help...
Let him try, he was a vet in Ge'ermu.
Hold his arm.
(Tibetan) Liu Dong, you take Dawa back to see the doctor.
(Tibetan) Ping Cuo, you should go back too.
(Tibetan) My shoulder wound isn't that bad.
(Tibetan) I can help watch the prisoners.
(Tibetan) Alright.
(Tibetan) We need money for the doctor.
Give him some money.
It's not enough.
Do we have more?
One the fine for the county.
Give it to him.
Still not enough.
Sell the pelts.
I'm going after the gunman,
you take the route through Huatugou.
(Tibetan) OK
(Tibetan) Good Luck. Good Luck.
(Tibetan) Goodbye. Goodbye.
(Tibetan) Be safe.
Captain, we're almost out of food.
How many supplies do we have left?
Two days.
Not counting the prisoners.
Fuel's nearly gone too.
We should turn back...
No way!
How much fuel left?
Four days if we give up the truck.
That should be enough to catch them.
Step back.
Remove the handcuffs
Ma Zhanlin, every time I catch you, you pay a fine.
This time I am letting you go without a fine.
Really?
Yes.
I can't make it back from here, I'm too old.
I don't have food for you, I'm short of fuel too.
I'm going after your boss. I can't take care of you.
I can't make it.
Yes, you can.
There are 200 kilometers to the Al Mountain.
And 100 more to the Kunlun Pass.
You can make it.
If you can't make it then it's your fate.
Good luck.
May God be with you!
Day 10 Bugedaban Peak.
What's wrong?
The engine's gone.
Out of oil.
Why didn't you check the oil before?
We've been going non-stop for two days...
Can you fix it?
Wait here for Liu Dong.
Let's go.
(Tibetan) Good luck.
(Tibetan) Good luck!
Can Liu Dong find them?
If it doesn't snow...
Day 12
Day 15
(Tibetan) Doctor. Doctor.
(Tibetan) Get up, Get up.
(Tibetan) This bench is for patients, Your friend is alright.
What do you want? I'm still working.
Where have you been for so long?
You're a mess.
I'm working. Let go of me.
Aren't you cold in those fishing net.
It's my working outfit.
What do you want from me anyway?
You look like a lunatic.
Are you playing deaf now?
I miss you!
You miss me but you didn't come to see me.
I went patrolling.
I thought you were dead.
I need some money.
You pull this shit every time I see you!
Lengxue.
Do you think I own a bank?
Did you spend my money on other women?
I don't know how you can live that crazy life.
I just want to be with you
I'm leaving...
You'll forget me soon.
And find yourself another girl...
Lengxue...
Can Ma Zhanlin make it out alive?
What about your men?
I hope it doesn't snow!
What's wrong?
They'll never find us. We're going to die here.
Shut up!
Your whole situation looks pretty desperate.
We're short of money, short of men, short of guns.
My guys haven't got paid for almost a year.
Can the county help?
We're not officially employed.
How do you pay for the patrol?
We have to come up with the money ourselves.
What do you do with the pelts?
We hand most of them to the authorities.
Do you sell some to raise the money?
Selling the pelts is illegal.
How should I write the article?
I always thought I'm a good journalist...
I know you're a reporter.
You think Kekexili is protected by you reporters?
I'll go to prison if I have to.
I know selling pelts is illegal.
But I can't worry about that now.
Ever seen prostrators on a pilgrimage?
Their faces and hands are filthy.
But their hearts are pure.
I sold pelts before, I had no choice.
It's highway on the other side of the mountains.
We have to catch them before they get there.
(Tibetan) Look around for something to eat.
How much bullets do we have?
A few dozen.
Yixi, what did you do before this?
I was a student.
Where?
Qinghai Normal University.
You should be a teacher.
This job is more interesting
Gayu, are you married?
No.
Girl friend?
We broke up right before I came here.
Just like my patrol,
each time they go out their girl friends leave them.
There are plenty nice girls out there.
Isn't that right, Yixi?
Right.
What did Bading do before?
A professional rabbits hunter.
Nonsense.
He worked at a highway checkpoint.
For logging trucks.
They worked all kind of jobs before joined the team.
Liu Dong was a Taxidriver, AWang was a soldier,
Songji was a herder.
For you.
Have some!
Up in those mountains, there's nothing to eat.
Day 17
Can Yixi and Bading find their way out?
I think so.
Should we wait for them here?
Ma Zhanlin, you're still alive.
I am. But many died on the way out.
My team got separated too.
This is captain Ritai,
This is our boss.
Captain, have a smoke.
I've been chasing you for years.
Why?
You killed my antelope.
So did a lot of people.
That's no excuse.
So what do you want?
You come with me.
Captain, if you let me off the hook.
I'll buy you two cars,
And I'll build you a new house too.
Our boss is kind,
And he's rich... Shut up!
Surrender your guns and come with me.
Sure! Let's give the Captain our guns.
We'll join his mountains patrol...
Who fired?
Who fired the gun?
I did.
Fuck you. You almost hit me.
He's still alive.
Are you a patrol men?
No, he's not Ritai' s guy.
You're a dead man if you are!
He's not.
Follow our footprints for five kilometers to find the highway
THE END Subtitles by: Reklame