"Welcoming the sun of the new century..."
"...we workers at Chengfa raise our voices"
CHENGFA GROUP
"The five-star red flag flutters in the wind"
"How glorious our song of victory!"
"Singing for our beloved motherland..."
"...as she prospers and grows strong!"
CEREMONY FOR TRANSFER OF LAND FROM
CHENGFA GROUP TO CHlNA RESOURCES LAND LTD
Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests...
Good morning, everyone
Today, 29 December 2007...
...will mark...
...a new and glorious chapter...
... in the development of the Chengfa Group
For nearly 50 years we have grappled...
...with difficulties and setbacks
and the challenging breakthroughs of economic reform
Now a revitalized Chengfa Group...
... is about to move from the site...
...that it has occupied for 50 years
"The cherished hibiscus of 24 City, in full bloom" - Tang Dynasty poem
Chengdu City
HE XlKUN
Back then, we just thought of '420' as a large factory
But I knew that it did work for the military
It made aircraft, and aero engines
We came in as fitters, our job was to repair...
...all the machinery and equipment in '420'
We were solely responsible for repairs
We did regular maintenance...
...and repairs when necessary
Back then,
he was in charge of Fitter Group 4
Back then...
There's one thing I remember
I'd just arrived
I had no idea...
...that the fitters basically had to make their own tools
By ourselves
One thing we used was called a 'scraper'
It was a kind of blade, shaped like this
And we had to make them ourselves
We cut the metal...
...and then honed the edge
Finished...
... it was about this long
Then, as it got worn down, we re-honed it
When it became this short, it couldn't be used any more
But he kept on using them regardless
When the thing was really worn out, he hung it from his belt
You had to hone the edge...
...very, very slowly
Even when it was all worn away...
... useless...
... he kept on using it
There was one time...
One scraper was worn right down, I couldn't use it, so I threw it away
Then Master Wang said...
"Xiao He..."
"You know..."
"...that this small thing..."
"... has come into our hands..."
"...through the hands of many others"
"lt can still be used"
So he picked up the one I'd thrown away
He re-honed it and used it again
I was so impressed
I felt it keenly
We were too immature
We had to learn not to be wasteful
Master Wang knew well...
"Waste not, want not"
That's correct, and I learned it from him.
He knew how many hands our tools had passed through
How hard-won they were
I feel guilty when I speak about Master Wang
I've been so busy for years now...
...that I haven't visited him
He Xikun, born 1 949 in Chengdu.
Apprenticed in 1 964 in the Fourth Fitter Group of Workshop 61...
in Factory "420". Later joined the army.
"He Xikun, male, aged 30,
work card # 0771 8968"
During the Cultural Revolution years...
...there were some very violent clashes
Most of the factories and mines stopped work
But he...
...carried on working
Hardly anyone else went in to the factory
Talking about this makes me feel a bit sad
It's hard to talk about this
I would have died if you hadn't come
She's hidden everything!
Hid what? Nothing!
What was there to hide?
Mother said the knife was hidden
She hid it all
Even my belt
They took three X-rays
After a long wait
This hospital is hopeless
They suggested we move to the provincial hospital
Give it to him.
- Were the X-rays computer-enhanced? - Yes.
So the images are clear?
Should be
It cannot be this afternoon, in the afternoon it...
What have you got to say?
You?
What have you got to say?
Seeing you makes me a bit nervous
Nervous?
Are you happy?
Happy to see me?
Of course I'm happy
It's been so long
Too bad...
I wouldn't have known you if we passed on the street
I wouldn't have
Have I changed?
You look thinner than before
I looked like this back then
Seeing you...
Greeting you...
But I forget
My brain's rusty
Too slow!
It was okay before
I used to remember things well
But not now
You did a lot for the factory.
Back then...
When I started working there... I used to worry
I came here in 1 959
If I ever took a day off, I'd work nights to make up the time
Overtime
I even worked through New Year and at weekends
Every single day
We were under pressure back then
Always the threat of war
Right
ALWAYS FOLLOW THE PATH OF DEVELOPMENT CORRECTLY
SECRETARY GUAN
Guan Fengjiu, born 1935 in Haicheng, Liaoning Province.
Appointed head of security in Factory "420".
At the time he retired, he was deputy secretary of the Communist Party Committee.
We were implementing Chairman Mao's strategy
Moving military factories to inland areas
Sheltered by the mountains here
Originally, the armaments factories,
the aeronautics places were all in the north-east
During the Korean War, that was the front line in the action against the Yanks
In line with the new strategy...
...we built factories in the south-west
We picked this place
We were under contract to Factory '1 1 1 ' in Shenyang, in the north-east
We repaired aircraft engines there
MlG-1 5s, during the Korean War
They were used in the attacks on the Yanks,
by the Chinese and North Korean air forces
We were fighting American lmperialism
So Factory '1 1 1 ' built Factory '420'
It was Factory '1 1 1 '
On 3 November, the General Assembly was mobilized
That was when our factory was charged with building '420' in Chengdu
We needed 60% of the staff
That is, 60% of Factory '1 1 1 ' staff...
We all had to move down here Over a period
A certain amount of the equipment from '1 1 1 ' was moved here
And the people to run it
Various specialists, technical staff, cadres
Mobilized after 3 November
I transferred here in December
I was in charge of the Security Section
I was one of the first to arrive
At that time, there were more than four thousand workers
Hou Lijun
After Mum came here...
...every year I thought of visiting home
I wanted to see my grandparents
My Mum's father and mother
She wanted to visit them too Always thought about it
Year on year...
But then...job, family, kids...
Not to mention...
The cost of it
We always wanted to visit home, but couldn't afford to
The bottom line
After coming here in 1 958...
... I have been back
When did we first go back to Shenyang?
It was in 1 972
Nothing had changed...
...since 1 958
In 14 years!
I was 18 or 19 by then
I'd finished middle school
Yes, I'd left middle school...
... by the time I first went back to Shenyang with Mum
The first time back in Shenyang
Do you remember Shenyang at that time?
Sure I do
I remember it vividly
Vividly
What was it like?
Well, it was...
Coming home like that...
It was 14 years since Mum had left
Her first trip home
As soon as we got there,
my Grandma and her husband broke down in tears
They really cried
One time in 14 years
I was still too young to really understand
I didn't appreciate...
...why they felt so strongly
I don't understand...
what they felt
Hou Lijun, born 1 953 in Shenyang.
Worked as repairman in Workshop 63 in Factory "420"
And when we were about to leave, they all said...
"You've come back only once in 14 years
We must see you off at the railway station"
"lf you stay away this long again,
we'll be more than 70 years old next time"
"Will there be another chance to meet?
This might be the last time"
Then I understood...
...why my Grandpa cried like that
When the train started moving,
Grandpa broke down...
in tears again
As the train pulled out of the station, Mum kept her composure
But l...
... began to cry myself
In the train, I began sobbing out loud
I felt so sorry for my grandparents
They seemed so pitiful
Mum lived so far away from them
She couldn't visit them
It was so hard for us to go back even once
The great thing is that Grandma...
...was lucky
Near the end of her life, she said...
... her greatest wish...
...was to go to Chengdu to see her eldest daughter
That is, my mother
She finally came here in 1 985
By then she was 86 years old
She finally made it
The next year, she went back
And that was the year...
...she passed away
How many in your own family?
My own?
We're...
...a normal three-person family
- Your husband works in the factory? - Yes, he does
- he does - What's his job?
He does...
It's kind of...
Surface treatment In the Coating Workshop
Surface treatment
You have a son or a daughter?
A son.
When my boy was in the sixth grade of primary school...
... I was laid off.
- How old were you then? - I was 41.
41 years old
Was it a policy decision or for some other reason?
Policy, they wanted to reduce staff numbers
They didn't need so many people as before,
so they cut back and increased efficiency
The factory needed fewer people,
so we were laid off I was one of the first to go
Back then,
I recall ten or more of us...
in our workshop were laid off
More then ten others...
Ieft with me, more than ten
We had a last dinner together...
at Hekouwei Restaurant
We'd been there for many banquets
But that night, many of us couldn't eat
They couldn't eat, they just cried
They cried openly
Everyone pulled at Director Cao Pumped Director Yang's hands
They were saying...
"ln all these years, I've never come late for work"
Director Cao agreed that they hadn't
And "ln all these years, was there ever a time
when I didn't do my best?"
Director Cao said "Never"
In fact, nobody was in the wrong
Nobody 'd come to work late Nobody 'd not given their best
He said I never failed at my job
Director Cao said I'd never failed
Not even once
And I'd never come late
Not one mistake
But they simply didn't need so many people
There was less work They were earning less money
They couldn't support such a large workforce
The company had to pay its own way
All it could do was lay off staff Give us all small pay-offs
When we got home that evening...
...dinner was really...
We cried Some of us didn't eat at all
I did eat, just to encourage the others
I was just pretending...
Urging the others to tuck in
That's what I did
That's called "Smiling through your tears"
That's what I did
I really did hide my tears and pretend to be happy
Why cry?
Let's eat!
In 1994, I was 41 years old
A middle-school graduate
A 41-year-old woman
My kid is just in the sixth grade of primary school
I have to pay his tuition fees
A three-person family has to eat
I have just about...
...200 yuan to live on
When I went out job-hunting...
... I put up a motto on the wall
It read like this...
"Come rain, come shine,
I must go forward"
I went out looking for a job every day
Always had my motto in mind
Anyhow...
I went out looking for work
I tried all over Chengdu
Again and again
I tried at the Job Center
In Chengdu City, there's a Job Center...
in the Workers' Cultural Palace
You sign up there...
You look everywhere
You ask old friends for help
Maybe an old friend has work for you
It's so hard, really not easy.
It's really not easy to find a job
Finally I gave up
I couldn't find a job, so I tried selling on the street
What did I sell?
I sold yellow michelia flowers
You can pin them on your chest
I sold yellow michelias at Qingshi Bridge
Early every morning I bought yellow michelias
I set up near the Dongfeng Road bridge
On the roadside, by a little tree
I had to be discreet
If the traffic cops saw me, or the city superintendents...
...they would confiscate the flowers
After that, some friends introduced me...
...to other jobs
Slowly, step by step...
Are you working now?
Nowadays...
Nowadays I do some tailoring at home
I'm retired, retired
I qualify for a pension
I have a pension, but I still do some tailoring work
- You do what? - Tailoring
Still tailoring
At home
Didn't you notice at my home?
I put up the sign "Tailor"...
in the window
I still do a bit at home
Just a little
Do a little
It's better
I earn a bit
And I have something to do
If people have something to do
...they age more slowly
IF PEOPLE HAVE SOMETHlNG TO DO, THEY AGE MORE SLOWLY
"l have a date tonight"
"l will not sleep tonight"
"When the bell sounds across space and time..."
"... it wakes the new millennium!"
"Regulations for Retired Persons' Cultural Room"
WANTED
Dormitory Area in Factory '420'
Going out, Dali?
Yes
Feel better?
Much better
DALl
Aunty...
Shall I hang the drip for you?
Please
You called me "Aunty"?
You should call me "Granny".
Granny...
This Director Song...
Has he come in yet?
He has
He's probably in a meeting with the bosses
I see
Are you new here?
Yes
I just graduated
These days...
...you can wear make-up to work?
Of course
Foreign enterprises expect it
Otherwise they won't hire you
Foreign enterprises?
Isn't this state-owned?
Factory '420'...
...was a state secret
The original name was "Xindu Machinery"
Later it became the "Chengfa Group"
Its code name has been '420' all along
Like a military designation
That never changed
I remember...
When we got our wage packets...
...there was a five yuan bonus for maintaining secrecy
Pretty good!
Back then...
At the time of the 'Natural Disasters' (around 1 960),
many people outside didn't have enough to eat
But our factory gave us...
... 1.5 kilos of meat every month
Our work was vital
Aeronautical stuff
No negligence
Hao Dali, one of the original workers
in the Finished Product lnstallation Workshop in Factory "420",
once held the national title of "March 8th Red Banner Holder"
VEGETABLE RATlON COUPON
I still remember that on pay days...
...the bank...
...set up a desk at the factory gate
It was just a table, really
For us to deposit our wages
Back in 1 975...
... I was paid 58 yuan per month
I deposited 30 yuan every month
Aside from meeting our own needs...
... I also sent things back to Shenyang
I sent back money
My sister...
... Iiving in a village there...
... had many children
So I sent her all my old clothes
She altered them for her kids
The factory provided us with gloves
For our work
Special work-gloves
I never threw them away
I collected the used gloves
When I had a bundle, I sent them to my sister
She washed them
Unpicked them
Unravelled the thread
Made balls of it
And wove garments...
...for my nephews
Clothes, trousers
This year, my sister...
Her youngest son...
...sent me 500 yuan
So I rang her...
...to ask why he was sending money
"What's it for?"
My sister answered...
"l know things are tough in your factory"
My sister's youngest boy...
... back in the village...
... runs a small grocery store
It gives him some extra income
It never crossed my mind...
...that I'd need help from my sister in old age
When did you join the factory?
Factory '420'...
In 1 958, from Shenyang...
We moved here in groups
I was in the last group
Yes, in the last group
My boy was three years old
I was 1 8 when he was born
So I'd be 21
Yes, 21 that year
Not yet an adult, in fact
I'd never left home before
I'd never been on a boat
That year...
...the Chengdu-Baoji railway collapsed
No route overland, so we came by river
First a bus from Shenyang to Dalian
Then a boat from Dalian to Shanghai
Then changed to a river-boat...
...along the Yangtze...
...to Chongqing
And then a bus from Chongqing to Chengdu
It took 1 5 days in all...
...to get to Chengdu
I remember...
...as we approached Goddess Peak
There was thick fog that day
We went on deck to see Goddess Peak,
but we couldn't see anything
Nothing at all.
As I said, I'd never been on boats before
I felt seasick and threw up
Kept throwing up
It was chaotic on the boat
My husband suggested that...
...that I take a rest for a while
But I couldn't sleep
Kids were running around
I still felt seasick
Still kept throwing up
And the boat was juddering
We finally reached Fengjie
In Fengjie...
...we docked on the wharf
We went on land
They gave us two hours there.
It was nice to take a breather
But aside from the passengers,
the boat was carrying important equipment
So we couldn't stay long
During the short stop...
...everyone went ashore
It was like a small community
Everyone knew each other
Because of that...
... I was off-guard
Anyhow, they sounded the first siren
It meant that there was half an hour to departure
My husband and l...
...were buying some local specialties
And some oranges
I suddenly realized that my boy...
...wasn't there
I panicked and started calling him
I called and called
But I couldn't find him
I was getting desperate
My husband tried to reassure me
He said, maybe the kids who'd been playing together
had gone back to the boat together
So we went to the boat to see if he was there
All the other kids were back, except him
All the other families were together
Except us
My husband panicked too
He and his workmates...
... Iooked for our boy everywhere
I was at my wits' end
My husband and l...
... rushed back ashore to look for him
But we couldn't find him
And then...
...the second siren sounded
Some women comrades dragged me back to the boat
They forced me to get aboard
As you know, back then,
when we were transferred from Shenyang to Chengdu...
...we were working for the military
Part of the war effort
We all knew that everything
we did had implications for national security
That made me all the more nervous
People said Chiang Kai-Shek planned to try to retake Mainland China
So when that siren sounded...
... it was like an army bugle
We had to go
Then
They
A big crowd of people, dragged me back to the boat
I leaned on the railings
Seeing the boat going farther and farther offshore
The houses turning smaller and smaller
I felt that my child became farther and farther away from me
I felt that I hate myself
My heart was flurried
empty
Jaguar!
The Commies are taking the bait!
Captain Morgan...
Act in good faith!
No. 2!
A flotilla of small planes on the right!
Enemy planes in the South-west!
Enemy planes in the West!
It's clear...
Enemy tactics have changed
They're using small planes as decoys
Prior to a bombing raid!
"OBSERVE SAFETY, TREASURE LlFE"
"lf the aeronautics factory is like a huge eyeball..."
"...then the labouring is its blackest part"
(from a poem by Ouyang Jianghe)
SONG WElDONG
The money we get from selling this land
will be used to build a new industrial park
Our workshops will move there, one by one
In the future, our place here...
will become a five-star hotel
Song Weidong, born 1 966 in Chengdu.
Assistant Director of the General Management Office of Chengfa Group.
Factory '420', the whole of it...
... is rather large
The whole place...
... is kind of a world apart
Take me, for example
From kindergarten...
Primary school, middle school, high school
I went to all of them within the factory precincts
The schools were run for children of the workers
All of us who grew up here had the same experience
Within the factory precincts, there's a cinema, a swimming pool
In the summer...
...the factory made its own soft drinks
Each family took bottles to bring them home
Soft drinks
You can see why we're proud of the factory
And we never thought...
that Factory '420' had any connection with Chengdu City
That's how we saw it
Actually, we didn't need any connection with the place
No need
We had a great life
The only way...
...we connected with local kids...
...was when we had fights
...especially the eastern suburbs...
... has a long history of fighting
Even before Liberation in 1 949,
there were a lot of pitched battles here
Anyhow, back then...
...we took on the local kids
There were non-stop conflicts and clashes
All around the Double Bridge area
We almost always won
Because there were more of us
And we all came from the one place
Whereas they were much less unified
But they hit on a strategy what strategy?
What strategy?
It was like this
Ambushes
They'd hide somewhere
And if there were not many of us,
or if one of us was alone
They'd ambush us and beat us
And then we'd counter-attack
If you beat me today, tomorrow I'll beat you back
I remember...
...one time in particular
I was in primary school, grade three
1 976
I'd just learnt how to ride a bike
Very exciting
One afternoon I took my father's bike, a Phoenix 28
I took it and rode it away
But then I made a big mistake
I rode the bike a long way
Quite far from Factory '420'
Somewhere else entirely
I realized my mistake and turned around
Too late! A gang of boys trapped me
They caught me...
Then they escorted me...
to their base
They have a leader
His name is Zhou Chao
I'm brought in front of him
I'm fearing the worst
Everyone is jeering at me
Copying something in a movie
"l represent the masses and I sentence you to death!"
I'm sure they're going to beat me up
I just want my bike I have to get it back
Or my father will never forgive me
To my surprise...
...Zhou Chao said to me...
"I've thought it over"
"Premier Zhou Enlai passed away today"
"So I'll let you off"
Then he and his boys left
I was amazed
I rode home in a hurry
And when I got home...
... I found my parents making...
Iittle white paper flowers
Premier Zhou really had passed away
I went through puppy love too
Puppy love
I was 16
In grade two of Junior High
At that time we did two years in Junior High
Around the time I graduated, I had a girlfriend
Her family were...
also North-easterners came here from the North-east
When she graduated,
she was offered a place in South-west Medical College
Actually, I wanted to go to university too
But my family didn't agree
Because back then our factory...
offered really good benefits to its staff
If you went off to university...
...you might be assigned to somewhere else after graduating
So they insisted that I stay in the factory
To take my father's place eventually
To learn his skills and reap those benefits
So I stayed in the factory
Back then, our factory was really pretty good
In 1 978, you know...
After the Cultural Revolution, there were battles
The "Counter-attack in Self Defense" against Vietnam
They needed a lot of munitions
But after that, there was a decline
I remember how...
...the factory's profits went down
So her family wanted her to break with me
One day...
I remember this very clearly...
One day she came to break up with me
I was roller skating
She came to find me
There was a kind of wire netting around the skating rink
A wire-netting barrier
I was inside it, she was outside
She had an ice popsicle
And she passed it to me...
...over the railing
I ate it there and then I'd taken two bites from it...
...when she came out with it
She said...
"We're so young"
"Our love is not mature"
I knew what she meant right away
I interrupted her
I said
"So, it's over between us"
And she said...
"You said it first"
She implied it was my decision
I said she was right I said it first
Then she left
She turned and left, didn't look back
I remember those times One impression is very strong
There was a TV drama on at that time
A Japanese TV drama called 'Bloody Suspect'
That was it It starred Yamaguchi Momoe
Back then, she set the fashion everyone wanted a "Sachiko hairstyle"
My girlfriend had "Sachiko hair"
She left
She left without looking back
I still remember...
...when she gave me the ice popsicle
She had a red handkerchief...
...tied around her wrist
I remember it clearly
A few days ago on Hunan TV...
...they showed 'Bloody Suspect' again
My wife...
...she's the file manager in the factory...
... really likes it
She watches it every night
I do too
- Which year were you born? - 1 970
I was born in 1 966
"Though leaves are many, the root is only one"
"Through all the lying days of my youth"
"l swayed my leaves and flowers in the sun"
"Now I may wither into the truth" -- W. B. Yeats
Site for Stage One of '24 City' (Former Factory Basketball Court)
"Basketball court now site of high-rise building,
these machines will be moved in three days."
"Every day..."
"l am wandering..."
"Every morning and night my heart is adrift"
"How I long for someone to be with me"
"To make my heart stop drifting..."
"Sister Lin comes down from heaven"
"Like a wispy cloud from behind the mountain"
"He who loves her seems outwardly dissolute"
"But he is actually pure in heart"
Little Flower...
You brought nothing to eat this morning?
I climbed up Qingcheng Hill with my brother yesterday
I got home exhausted didn't feel like cooking
So you'll go out to eat?
Does your brother like spicy food?
Yes, he does
He's been everywhere...
...and tasted everything
Long before Liberation in 1 949...
...there were Sichuan restaurants in Shanghai
My Grandpa used to say...
The Jinjiang Hotel in Shanghai...
...served good Sichuan food
He also said...
...there was a time...
...when Sichuan food was fashionable in Shangha
You know why?
I don't know
At that time...
...Sichuan was the home front in the war of resistance against Japan
When the Japanese invaded Shanghai,
many Shanghainese fled into Sichuan
And when they went home after the war...
...they saw themselves as battle-scarred
They liked eating spicy food in public...
...to show that they'd been in Sichuan!
Shanghai has changed a lot
I went back once in 1 993
There's a street where they serve lamb stew in brown sauce
Do you know it?
I never ate lamb when I was young
Because it was always cooked with garlic
Where are you two going to eat?
My brother left for Shanghai this morning.
His work-unit boss wants him back at work
Okay, then, Little Flower
I'll be off
I need to get changed
LlTTLE FLOWER
A while later, don't be nervou.
I'm alright as usual, but always nervous after getting changed.
Sister Wang, can you bring my bag upstairs?
I left my phoenix in it
"Beside the green lake"
"Under flowing willows"
"Along the flower-strewn path"
Yue Opera: Dream of the Red Chamber
"All at once"
"A flute's lament"
"ls heard on the breeze"
I was...
In 1 978...
I was assigned to Factory '420' from Shanghai Aviation Academy
Around graduation time...
...we heard that some of us would be sent to Chengdu
All those who didn't want to go...
... used all their connections to find a way to stay in Shanghai
But I didn't
Around that time...
...the people who'd been "sent to the countryside" began returning to Shangha
My brother came back from Jiangxi
My elder sister came back from Heilongjiang
And my second sister from Anhui
So the family was reunited
And the house was full of people
Including the three of them
And my kid brother, who was in middle school
There were seven of us in all
But the house in Yangshupu was only 20 metres square
How could all seven of us live there?
We had to divide each room in half
And build a temporary attic
There's a Shanghai saying...
"Putting an elephant in the stomach of a sparrow"
I slept in the attic with my two sisters
So I thought I should leave
At that time...
In Factory '420'...
There were far more men than women
Girls from Shanghai, like me were very few
On my first day at work...
... I went to Canteen 2 for lunch
It was terribly crowded
I later found out why
The men who were supposed to eat in Canteens 1 and 3...
... had come to Canteen 2 to see the girls from Shanghai
Especially the younger men
They made comments about us
Things like that...
...went on for quite some time
Later some guy, I never knew who...
...gave me the nickname "Standard Component"
What does that mean?
To begin with...
... I had no idea what it meant
Later I came to know
It meant "Flower of the Factory"
After that...
... people began calling me "Little Flower"
There was a movie named 'Little Flower' at that time
That's right.
It starred Joan Chen, Tang Guoqiang and Liu Xiaoqing
Our factory...
...showed that movie for a whole week
Many people saw it several times
They came out saying I looked like Little Flower
That is, the movie's heroine, played by Joan Chen
At first, they used the name behind my back
Then, to my face
After a while, my real name...
...was known to very few people
What is your real name?
Gu Minhua
"Min" as in "Mingan" (sensitive)
"Hua" as in "Zhonghua" (China)
I guess you had many admirers?
Back then...
... people weren't as open as they are now
And everyone was so busy
Overtime every day
One time...
On the workshop notice board
Someone put up a photo
There was no caption
It showed a young guy
Good-looking, sporty type
Anyhow...
During break times...
...we all gathered round to look at it
Some of the girls began guessing who he might be
Some thought he was...
...from the Communist Youth League and due to visit the factory
Others thought he was the representative we'd chosen...
...to commiserate with the army after the defeat on the Vietnam border
Staring and speculation...
...went on day after day
Then it went even further
Someone said to me...
"This guy is handsome"
"He's as good as Tang Guoqiang" (film star)
"You two should become a couple"
My colleagues in the factory back then...
...were all matchmakers
Two people who didn't even know each other...
...as long as they had matching names, would be put together in a love story
Some of them really did get married
I was pretty annoyed at first
I thought...
How dare they try to match...
a living person with a photo?
But later...
Very gradually...
My thinking...
... began to change
I imagined that he really was...
...a Communist Youth League secretary coming to our factory
In fact I imagined him...
turning up the very next day
I was 20 years old
I'd never been in love
Some days later...
...there was a big meeting in the factory
The leaders asked us...
... if we'd seen the photo
Did we know who the man was?
Everybody stayed silent
The Party Secretary said...
The young man was a pilot
Our country had spent eight years, and more than 200,000 yuan...
...on training him
Something went wrong with his plane
Trying to save the plane...
... he didn't parachute to safety
And he died
He was just 24
Anyhow...
The Secretary went on...
The accident, he said...
...could be blamed on us
Some components we'd produced...
... had gone wrong
He added...
Amongst all of you...
...there's someone who was responsible for this tragedy
We should reflect on our mistakes
Anyhow, after that...
Many people introduced boys to me
And I started going out with one boy
He taught on the factory's educational TV channel
The son of high-ranking officials They worked in ministries
So he had a good family background
But then something bad happened
In the neighboring workshop, #34...
...there was one guy...
...who was apparently in love with me
This guy...
...wrote love letters to himself in my name
Hard to understand, no?
But that's exactly it, he wrote to himself
And signed my name at the bottom of the page "Gu Minhua"
Then he showed off the letters to his workmates
Soon enough, everyone was talking...
...about our supposed love affair
And everyone thought I'd taken the lead
My boyfriend heard about this
He got quite angry
I tried to explain to him, but he wouldn't listen
So I had no choice...
... but to break up with him
After that, I thought I might as well go back to Shanghai
And if I got married in Chengdu...
...that would be an obstacle
Back then, the easiest way to move was to make an exchange
I had to find someone in Shanghai...
...who wanted to move to Chengdu
But there was hardly any military activity by 1 984 or 1 985
Armaments manufacture fell on hard times...
Nobody wanted to exchange with me
Those were hard years for the factory
Later on...
...the plant moved over to civilian products
Such as...
Double Swallow brand fridges and washing machines
Suddenly we needed sales people
I was from Shanghai
So...
They made me a saleswoman in Shanghai
I had to drink with clients every day
It ruined my stomach
And I wasn't making money for myself
So I took unpaid leave and started my own company
I did some business
I was a wholesaler of Tianfu peanuts
But I found it quite tough
So I moved back to Changdu
By 1 989, when I got back here...
... my sisters already had kids in school
So I thought I might as well marry a Chengdu man
Well...
I was in my thirties by then
And all the men I was introduced to were divorce
The thought of being a step-mother...
... made me uncomfortable
So I passed on all of them
The latest one I've met...
He was also introduced by others...
He's good in all respects
He's a boss
But after we'd met a couple of times...
... he told me something
He'd been a mason when he was young
He'd passed our factory gate, pulling trolley-loads of stones
And he'd seen me often
He knew I was the "Flower of the Factory" and liked me very much
But he was poor then
And the factory had a high reputation locally
So he felt...
...that I was beyond his reach
But he promised himself...
...that he would come to me when he got rich
Hearing all this...
... made very uncomfortable
Maybe I'm no longer...
...a "Standard Component"
But I'm not a "Reject" either, right?
I have my own standards
I thought it over and ended it
Now I'm single
I live a happy life
Some of my workmates who married...
...are now divorced
They live alone, just as I do
We go out to sing karaoke
We play mahjong, it's fun
Gu Minhua, born 1958 in Shanghai.
Worked as quality inspector in the precision workshop of Factory "420".
Feature film 'Little Flower' (1 978)
"A girl is sad"
"Tears in her eyes"
"She cannot see her beloved"
"Anxiously waiting"
"Thy image lingers in my heart..."
"Amid conflicted feelings about the spring"
-- Cao Xueqin (from 'Dream of the Red Chamber')
Young lady...
what's your name?
Yang Mengyue.
In school?
Third grade
Anyone in your family working in Factory '420'?
That one?
Yes
My Pa and Ma work there
Ever been there yourself?
No
CHlNA RESOURCES LAND LTD: 24 ClTY
The land area of Chengdu City is still expanding
Factory '420' was in the center of the old city
An area no longer suitable for a factory
CR Land is spending 21.4 billion yuan to redevelop
the 560,000 square metres of the factory's land
Soon a modern, living community, named '24 City'...
...will arise on this site
Factory '420' will use the income from the sale
of the site to reform and modernize its technology
This will ensure that its aeronautics technology
does not become obsolete in the next half-century
ZHAO GANG
These white bits...
...are for housing developments
The gray bits are for commercial use
And in the South-west corner...
...that is, these red bits...
...we retain some of the distinctive buildings...
...from the old factory
Like the old mill buildings and the watchtower here
Why is the development called '24 City'?
The name '24 City' comes from an old poem
"The cherished hibiscus of 24 city In full bloom, a flourishing flower"
We have some scale-models here
- Will you take a look? - Thanks
Over there
Zhao Gang, born 1 974,
"News Round-up" presenter on Chengdu TV.
I was offered a place in the College of Technology in Jilin
Our teacher introduced us...
Several of us...
And gave us the rail tickets from Chengdu to Jilin
We'd never been on a train before
We were told to give the tickets to our parents for safe-keeping
They'd hand them back on the day of departure
They were scared we'd lose them
I looked closely at the ticket
It was the kind they had in the 1980s A "through ticket"
All the way from Chengdu to Jilin
Anyhow, I looked at it
And I was amazed to see...
that one station en route was Beijing
I'd never been to Beijing
I was really startled
It meant that
I was going a lot further than 20 miles
I was actually leaving
I was really leaving Chengdu
We were in a state of excitement all the way to Jilin
The semester began on 1 September I looked forward to it eagerly
It snows in Jilin, right?
Heavy snow, first time in the North-east...
Everything was exciting
That term I must say
...and I spent that first semester...
... Iearning new things non-stop
Everything was great
It had a gradual effect on my thinking
I began to compare my life in Chengdu with my new life in Jilin
I don't know quite how to put it
But compared with Factory '420'
with the environment I grew up in...
...this was very different
I don't think Chi Chin's song
'The Outside World' had come out by then...
But that song certainly expressed my feelings
When it came out in 1 990, I think it was so great
Just great
Anyhow...
My thinking changed a lot...
... in the second half-semester
The first half-semester was all theory
Technical stuff
Heat-treatment of metals, stuff like that
Engine-building
In the second half-semester...
...which lasted three months...
... I had to put on work clothes
During that apprenticeship...
... my whole attitude changed
Until then, I'd respected work clothes
As a kid, I'd watched my father put on his factory uniform
At that time, you know...
...only policemen wore uniforms
And soldiers
I was always impressed...
...when I saw people wearing work-uniforms
Work-uniforms meant high social status
So I liked factory uniforms,
But when the teacher gave me those work clothes...
...and I put them on...
... I didn't feel any different
Anyhow, I put on the work clothes...
Took my lunch-box, complete with spoon rattling inside
and went to the factory
And during that apprenticeship...
... my way of thinking changed
How to put it...
Your status is different
You'd been a student...
You'd seen workers, right?
Now you're wearing worker's clothes
It's not the same
I remember very well from that time,
one episode that really affected me
Another boy from Chengdu...
...and I were apprenticed to an old North-easterner
He taught us metal-polishing
You use a big stone wheel
He gave us a basketful of parts
Straight off the production line Newly made component parts
Our job, he told us...
...was to smooth away the rough edges of these component parts
I'm quite a sensitive guy...
I did ten of them
Twenty of them
I guess I thought it was quite interesting
I focused on the technical skills
And that held my interest
But when you've done 50 or 1 00 of them...
... it's impossible to feel good about it
Something snaps in your mind
You're exhausted, really exhausted
My head was covered in sweat
The old worker said something,
which I can't forget to this day
In North-eastern dialect, he said...
"Don't worry..."
"lf you can't finish this morning, you can go on with it in the afternoon"
"This basketful is for the two of you"
"lf you don't finish them today, there's always tomorrow"
That really got to me
I was so bored
The component parts bored me rigid
I finally got through 100 of them,
and there were still many more to go
But he said...
...that would be my job from then on
So I told him I was quitting
I meant it, too
It was no fun
I said I wanted to go back to being a student
I said "I'm a 1 6-year-old student,
I don't want to wear work clothes any more"
I told my parents, and they were strongly against it
It was hard to find a decent job back then
But I did quit
I left without my luggage
Zhao Gang and his father
"Long, long ago..."
"l belonged to you"
"You belonged to me"
"Long, long ago"
"You left me"
"Flying high in the sky"
"The world outside is wonderful"
"Li Xuemei, 2003,
Exam Registration Paper"
"Arise!"
"Ye prisoners of starvation"
"Arise!"
"Y e toilers of the earth"
"For reason thunders new creation"
"Tis a better world in birth..."
"Things we have thought and done"
"Must ramble and thin out"
"Like milk spilt upon a stone" -- WB Y eats
SU NA
It's such a hassle!
The stuff you want is so expensive!
Who can afford it?
Who can afford to show off like you?
Su Na, born 1982 in Chengdu.
THE SCHOOL lN FACTORY '420'
In Grade One, I was 1.66 metres tall
Quite a good figure...
So I thought I could be a model
Or anyway something like that
But I didn't get any taller
It was such a shame
Most of us in school were not good students
And the teaching was pretty bad too
So my father was worried about me
At that time, he was manager of one of the workshops in '420'
So he had good connections
He used his influence with his friends...
...to get me transferred to #4 High School
He thought I'd go to some famous university
Like Tsinghua or Peking University
To make him proud of me...
...and honour our ancestors
But actually I'm not the studying type
Not at all
I failed the college entrance exam
I had the strong feeling...
...that I'd let my parents down
For a while I just hung around on the streets
I had nothing to do
I wasn't willing to work in '420'
But things are going fine now
I work as a shopper
I go to Hong Kong every two weeks...
to buy things for my clients
There are lots of rich people in Chengdu
So I can easily make money
Rich women with time on their hands...
They like fashion but don't have the energy to buy it
So they hire me to buy for them
All the famous brands
The latest styles
Shoes...
Scarves...
Belts, watches...
I get 1 000 yuan per item
Enough to live on
Pretty good, in fact
See that tower?
Yes
We call it the Panda TV Tower
I have a friend from Malaysia...
I met him on a plane...
He wants to take over the revolving restaurant on that tower...
...and hire me to manage it
I've never worked in catering...
... but there's no harm in trying
Maybe I'll become a powerful woman!
What do you think?
The car is essential for me
If I had to see those rich ladies every day...
...and didn't have a car of my own...
... I'd feel quite embarrassed
I'll repay the loan myself
All of my classmates around town...
Their parents put money aside for them when they were little
I forget the name of the fund
Anyhow, it's ring-fenced
And when they're old enough...
...they can spend it on apartments and cars
My mother was laid off in 1 995
While my father was working, he kept his hands clean
So he never found my mother a well-paying job
She found a part-time job...
... in a telegraph-pole factory
She's still doing that now
Since he retired...
... my dad's permanently grumpy
He can't adjust to not being in charge
Also...
When he had his job...
...the house was packed with visitors
Now nobody at all comes to visit
In the first few months of retirement...
... he hardly stepped outside at all
And he became very taciturn
When he got up in the morning...
... he'd just sit on the sofa...
...chain-smoking
I didn't go home much
I didn't want to
Whenever I was there...
... I felt the mood of failure and depression
I lived with my first boyfriend...
... in Royal Mansion, Yulin Gardens
It was a pretty nice place
But we eventually broke up
Then I found another guy
And we lived in a place called...
..."ln the Mood for Love"
I also had a one-room flat with a double bed at one time
I think that was with my third boyfriend
The bottom line is, I didn't want to go home
Not if I could avoid it
The day I applied for my permit to travel to Hong Kong and Macau...
... I needed to show my permanent residence document
So I went home to get it...
...and found the door locked
I realized I didn't know where my key was
I don't know what was wrong with me
So I went looking for my mother...
...at the telegraph-pole factory
I'd never been there before
As soon as I went inside...
...the noise was deafening
You had to shout to be heard
I looked around the place
But I couldn't see my mother
The staff were all wearing blue uniforms
Working with their heads bent down
I had to go up to every person
This one...
Then this one...
Trying to find which one was her
Finally I found her
Over in a corner
She was carrying ingots of steel
Throwing them...
One after another...
Into some boxes
Every time..."Bam!"
Every ingot landed with that noise
I had never felt more sad...
than I did at that moment
It was like a sharp pain
Suddenly striking my heart And it made all my limbs ache
My mother...
I didn't even know if it was a man or a woman when I approached
The head was bent down
I started crying when I saw it was her
And I ran off
I had dinner at home that night
My parents were so surprised
"Why have you come home for dinner?"
I didn't answer
After eating, I told my mother...
...that I would stay the night
She was very happy
She made my bed and brought a quilt
I hadn't touched that bed in ages
As I lay on it...
... I suddenly felt grown-up
I began to care about my parents
The thing I most want now...
... is to make a lot of money...
...and buy them an apartment in '24 City'
I now it will cost a lot
But I can do it
I'm the daughter of a worker
"Chengdu!"
"Home of the lotus-eating life"
"That's what makes my life worth living" (from a poem by Wan Xia)