| Summary: | Soros Documentary Fund
Every year in August and September several thousand peasants-men, women and children-leave the Sichuan Province in the heart of China and embark on train line 96, on a 3,000 kilometer journey westward toward the autonomous Xinjiang province. There, in the giant country's more developed region, endless cotton fields await the poor agricultural workers hoping to increase their family income. For many, this is their first train ride. For some, this will be their first experience away from their natal village. The filmmaker sets out to document the three day and two night railroad journey. The result is a rare look at the lives of Chinese peasants. Men and women speak openly and very frankly about their lives-difficulties, desires, expectations, hopes-what is happening in their native villages and what they may find at their destination. It becomes clear that while the primary motivation for many is economic, more than a few turn out to be adventure-seekers, searching for broader horizons and new experiences. Through a digital camera, the film sheds light for the first time upon a relatively recent phenomenon in China: internal migration.
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