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The Fastest Changing Place on Earth

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White Horse Village, a farming community deep in Western China.

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Life here hasn't changed much for hundreds of years

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but now it faces transformation on an epic scale.

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The village is to be destroyed to make way for a city.

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This is the story of a family torn apart by change.

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A farmer trying to forge a business empire in China's ruthless economy.

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And the communist party secretary who has to convince

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the villagers to give up their way of life forever.

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Filmed over six years, it's a story being replicated in thousands

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of villages all over China.

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The biggest urbanisation in human history

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and a giant leap of faith in the name of progress.

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I've lived and worked in China on and off for nearly 30 years

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and when I started filming in White Horse Village

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it was just another dirt poor corner of the country.

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Farmers working small plots by hand,

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counting themselves lucky to earn £200 a year

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from selling pigs or silkworms.

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A decade ago, the Chinese government embarked

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on an ambitious piece of social engineering.

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The plan was to drive development west

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to modernise thousands of rural communities.

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White Horse Village was on the list.

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After centuries as a rural backwater, it was destined

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to become a high-rise city in a few short years.

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China's power and wealth are concentrated

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in its coastal mega-cities.

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White Horse Village lies a thousand miles inland, in remote Wuxi County.

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Now the challenge is to bring China's economic success

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to the hinterland.

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Xaio Zhang is 32 and she's a rice and pig farmer,

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just like her mother before her.

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She lives on the outskirts of the village with her two children,

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Yang Yang and Pei Pei

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Her husband works in a factory in Beijing.

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So Xiao Zhang is bringing up her children alone

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as well as caring for her in-laws.

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There's no money to buy food, so she has to grow everything they eat.

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This is the life Xiao Zhang wants for herself and her children.

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The cities of the east coast.

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Hundreds of millions of farmers flock here

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for jobs in the money economy.

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Now the government wants to reverse that tide by bringing

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the cities to the countryside instead,

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turning half a billion farmers into urban consumers,

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hoping to spread the wealth

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and cure China's dependence on western markets.

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But for those who've never left White Horse Village

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all of this is unimaginable.

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-TRANSLATION:

-I'm in my 60s and I've been a farmer all my life.

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I don't know how to do business and I can't start now.

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We don't know anything about the plans for development.

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They told us we have to sell and that we'll have to rely

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on financial support from the government.

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The village must go to make way for the city

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and this is the man who must deliver the orders.

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Xiang Caiguo was born just after the Communist revolution of 1949,

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and the party has shaped his life.

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He grew up under Chairman Mao and he served in the Red Army.

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For the last 20 years, he's been White Horse Village's communist party secretary.

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-TRANSLATION:

-It's a hard job because I have to carry out orders from above.

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On the other hand, I have to listen to ordinary people

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and find solutions to their problems.

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For a party that was founded to fight for the peasants

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it's awkward that the cities have benefited so much more from China's growth.

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Political stability depends on closing the gap.

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It's the party secretary who has to convince his neighbours to give up their houses.

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-TRANSLATION:

-It's very sad that people have to move.

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Many families have been on this land for decades,

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even hundreds of years.

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They'll miss their old lives here on this land.

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The new life can't be as tough as farming.

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Farming is really hard work.

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You have to make a lot of effort for very little reward

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and that's a fact.

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The plan for Wuxi New Town -

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a city of 200,000 that will transform the valley.

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Farmers have no place in this vision.

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Every new tower block has to be built on somebody's fields.

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Government and developers cutting deals.

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In China there's no private land ownership.

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The state can take fields from the farmers at will,

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give them minimal compensation and lease the land to developers instead -

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at 30 times the price. The farmers think that's unfair.

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Construction has already started in some parts of the valley.

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This is Xie Ting Ming.

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He had no hesitations about taking the compensation for his farmland.

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At 43, he's been a farmer and a migrant worker.

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The plan for a city has given him a chance to start a business

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and he's invested his compensation in a bulldozer.

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Mr Xie is making friends where it matters.

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A villager the government can do business with.

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TRANSLATION: The next step will be to build houses,

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high-rise buildings and roads.

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You can make much more money than being a farmer.

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I've got my own projects now,

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but I'm also getting involved in other people's projects.

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Mr Xie and his team have been busy.

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Much of the land on the valley floor has already been cleared.

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But the next step towards the new city is harder.

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The villagers may not have owned their fields

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but they do own their houses.

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So they can't be forced out quite so easily.

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It's the party secretary's job to measure each farmhouse.

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Compensation is calculated on floor space

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and he has to convince the farmers to accept it.

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Everyone's been promised an apartment and places

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for their children in the new high school when the city is built.

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But they feel cheated at the low price

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they received for their farm land and many are suspicious.

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Some villagers are old enough to remember another attempt

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by the party to transform their lives - the Great Leap Forward.

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Grand promises were made but the result was famine

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and in White Horse Village many died.

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Now the party is promising transformation again

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and Tang Rending voices their shared anxiety.

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TRANSLATION: As party secretary,

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I can't disagree with central government policy.

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The programme is for the welfare of the public

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so we must all make sacrifices.

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For some, the city can't come fast enough

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but Xiao Zhang lives outside the first zone of development

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and fears it will be years before she benefits.

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Before she had children, she worked as a maid in Beijing

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and she knows the cities are the only place to make real money.

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-TRANSLATION:

-Almost every young couple leaves their children

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with their grandparents

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and goes away to work as a migrant to make money.

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I feel very jealous of those who can go. I don't have a way to do that.

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Most young people leave for the cities.

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Mr Xie and his wife are taking time out from business

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to celebrate their daughter Yuqian's 20th birthday.

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She's made a big decision.

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The deep valleys and high mountains of this region have kept it

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cut off from the modern China that Yuqian wants to belong to.

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But for now, her only decision is what to do for her birthday.

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In White Horse Village, it's the party secretary's job

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to persuade his neighbours to give up their homes for the new city.

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But it's personal too.

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His ancestors are buried in the fields they once farmed.

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The party secretary and his generation have lived through chaos and famine.

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But the traditions of life on the land have always endured.

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Now they're being asked to give up everything they know.

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Eight months later, construction of the new city is well under way.

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All these buildings are government offices.

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There's no sign of the promised new high school

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or the apartments for the farmers.

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So they're concerned about where they come on the list of priorities.

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There's been no public consultation.

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Mr Tang, who had so much to say at the village meeting,

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is still waiting for answers on how they're going to make money

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now their farmlands been confiscated.

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It's the run up to Chinese New Year, the biggest festival in the calendar

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and a time when families get together.

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Xaio Zhang is preparing for a rare trip home by her husband Chang Seng.

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In a few days, she'll slaughter the pig she's been fattening up all year.

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Chang Seng works a thousand miles away in Beijing.

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With no jobs in White Horse Village,

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this is the only way they can save for their children's future.

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Earning £20 for a seven-day week in a chemical factory,

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Chang Sheng is one of the unsung heroes of China's economic miracle.

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The low cost labour behind the products that flood world markets.

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TRANSLATION: I never wanted to leave home while my children

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were so small.

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I wasn't even there when my son was born.

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Last year I only spent three weeks at home

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and then I had to come back to Beijing.

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Chang Sheng plans to persuade Xiao Zhang that this time,

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he should stay with the family for good.

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150 million people leave their families to work in the cities.

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For Chang Seng, it's a three-day journey home.

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On his journey home, Chang Sheng witnesses the extent of China's transformation.

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Along the Yangtze River more than a million people have been resettled

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in new cities to make way for the Three Gorges dam and reservoir.

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And all these new cities are being linked with a motorway network

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part of the ambition for a 21st century infrastructure.

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Perhaps when Yang Yang and Pei Pei grow up there will be well-paid jobs at home.

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But for now, work means separation and they have a father

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they barely remember.

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In the village, the party secretary is taking his campaign

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from house to house, hoping a new year gift will smooth the way.

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Xaio Zhang and Chang Sheng spend their first day together

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preparing the pork for their traditional New Year feast.

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But they don't see eye to eye.

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New Year is a rare moment in China when construction actually stops.

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But for Mr and Mrs Xie business never stops.

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On the eve of the holiday, the workers must get their annual bonus.

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It's not just the Xies who are feeling rich.

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It's been another year in which China's economy has grown by more than 10%.

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The Xies' new wealth paid for the village's first ever white wedding

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when their daughter Yuqian married her businessman boyfriend.

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TRANSLATION: Business has been good since my daughter got married.

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New officials have been appointed to the development project

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which means the new town will happen even faster.

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I'm going to buy more equipment, another new digger

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and hire more workers.

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I'm hoping business will get even better.

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After the wedding, Yuqian rejected her parents' advice.

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She moved to the city of Shenzhen to start a new business

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with her husband.

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There's important news to catch up on.

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The party secretary can finally forget the cares of village politics,

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even if it's just for one night.

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One person is missing.

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His daughter Rui Lin is a migrant worker in Shenzhen

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and has decided to save money rather than spend it coming home.

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The party secretary and his wife are bringing up her little girl.

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Tonight, the villagers celebrate the new year.

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Soon the Xies will get a grandchild

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and Chang Seng will have to make the long journey back to Beijing.

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But for the village, the future is as uncertain as ever.

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Seven months later and progress on the new city has slowed down.

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The villagers still don't like the plan for their apartment blocks

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and are refusing to move out of their farmhouses.

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Officials are getting impatient.

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TRANSLATION: Farmers here are rather backward.

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They want to be able to feed their pigs, cows, chickens and sheep -

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they're not used to the idea of living in an apartment block.

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So the process of building a new town is also about changing their way of thinking.

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The Xie family have always embraced the plan for the new city.

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Mr and Mrs Xie have used their contacts

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to buy a commercial apartment at a knockdown price.

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They're hoping they can persuade daughter Yuqian

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to move back home with her new family.

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700 miles from White Horse Village

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is Shenzhen - China's export hub in the Pearl River Delta.

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30 years ago, it was little more than a fishing village -

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now, with a population of 12 million

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it's the centre of the biggest manufacturing region in the world.

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A place where fortunes are made.

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Xiao Zhang has convinced her mum to look after her children,

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and come to Shenzhen to see if she can find work.

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There's already a network of friends and relatives

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from White Horse Village who might be able to help.

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Rui Lin is the party secretary's daughter.

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She's worked here for ten years in a shoe factory.

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While her mum's away, Yang Yang has to grow up quickly.

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It's a three-mile walk to the local primary school.

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FANFARE

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THEY SING A STIRRING SONG

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Competition for places at the new high school will be intense.

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At four, Yang Yang already knows she has to stand out.

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PHONE RINGING

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Their grandmother is ill and has no health insurance.

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If Xiao Zhang gets a city job, it'll pay for medicine.

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In village politics, battle lines are being drawn.

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Finishing the Communist Party headquarters has taken up much of the construction budget,

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and now the bosses want a public square in front.

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The farmers' mud brick homes are in the way,

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and eviction notices have been posted.

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Beijing's intention was to bring them prosperity,

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but all the villagers see is local officials looking after themselves.

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In 2007, China saw over 70,000 riots,

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most of them sparked by the confiscation of land and homes.

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In response, central government announced a new slogan,

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"Harmonious Society", a reminder to local government

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that everyone should benefit from progress.

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But the harmonious message hasn't reached White Horse Village yet.

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It's four years since their land was confiscated,

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and the villagers know the stalemate over their houses can't go on.

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Now the party secretary's been ordered to set an example

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and have his own home demolished - or face the sack.

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It's a turning point -

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most of the farmers follow his lead and give up their homes.

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Until the apartment blocks are built, this is their new home.

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There's no hot water or heating,

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and the toilets are in a communal block.

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Hardly the good life they were promised.

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The party secretary's family have lived on this land for generations.

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TRANSLATION: Right now is the hardest time.

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We've lost our land and our houses.

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The government is thinking about how they can resettle us.

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They've got lots of things to sort out.

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China's new inland cities will consume vast amounts of energy,

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and these mountains are rich in natural resources.

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The Xies have won the contract for a road to a coal mine and dam,

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growing their business beyond the valley.

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It's a difficult and dangerous business.

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Three people have died on this project already.

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TRANSLATION: It's really tough up here.

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There's a constant danger of rock falls hurting people

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and damaging equipment.

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It's very dangerous,

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but this is the project the government has given us.

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We have to get it done and we have to do it fast.

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We have many projects around here, but there's not enough money

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in the area. We have to invest a lot and it's very competitive.

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It'll be easier to make money in Chongqing.

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The emerging mega-city Chongqing is 200 miles away,

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but despite the distance

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its boundary extends to White Horse Village -

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a sign of how big China intends this urban region to become.

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The Xies have persuaded Yuqian to move to Chongqing,

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and given her husband a start in construction -

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the first stage of their own plans in the city.

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Yuqian's got to start again and build a new business.

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Being a full-time mum was never her plan, and she doesn't want to get

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trapped at home when there are so many opportunities here.

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Xiao Zhang's taste of city life didn't last long.

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Her mum found looking after the kids on her own too much.

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The one hope left for Xaio Chang

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is that her children might go to the new high school.

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It's the best in the county, and will soon have 5,000 pupils.

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THEY RECITE ENGLISH PHRASES

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English is taught here as well as computer science -

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part of China's campaign

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to prepare the next generation for global competition.

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The villagers were promised places for THEIR children.

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But none have been allowed to enrol.

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Rural children have always been the outsiders

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when it comes to educational opportunity in China.

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Now it looks they might lose out, even in the new city.

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As usual, the only person to whom the villagers can air their grievance

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is the party secretary.

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The city has arrived. Wuxi new town.

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Just four years ago all of this was fields,

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but there's no trace now of White Horse Village.

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Instead, a thriving money economy,

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where every day brings the launch of a new business.

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But the villagers are not yet part of city life.

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They're still living in the temporary housing.

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Their apartment block has now been built,

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but they're unhappy with the quality and they're refusing to move in.

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They think the developers have cut corners to line their own pockets.

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They've made a video, and bypassed local officials

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to send their complaints direct to Chongqing.

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Two years ago, an earthquake nearby killed 70,000 people.

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Building standards can mean life or death.

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The prospect of jobs and businesses in the new city

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is bringing young migrants home.

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The party secretary's daughter Rui Lin has saved enough money

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to buy her dream apartment in an upmarket block.

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Her parents have come round to celebrate.

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The city expansion hasn't reached Xiao Zhang's house yet.

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But she's been making a little money by renting out

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the top floor of her house to construction workers.

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She built an extension, but bigger buildings

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mean more compensation, so only the government is licensed to build.

0:41:280:41:32

Lots of people get away with it

0:41:320:41:34

but Xiao Zhang doesn't have the connections you need.

0:41:340:41:36

What is true in Wuxi is true in Chongqing and for bigger stakes.

0:42:190:42:24

Mr Xie knows for his business to succeed in the new China,

0:42:250:42:28

he has to build good relationships.

0:42:280:42:30

TRANSLATION: When we first arrived, we didn't know anyone.

0:42:320:42:37

After a while I started to make contacts with property developers,

0:42:370:42:40

and eventually they started calling to offer me business.

0:42:400:42:44

The line between connections and corruption can easily get blurred.

0:42:460:42:51

In Chongqing they've arrested thousands.

0:42:510:42:53

But even the Communist Party admits corruption

0:42:540:42:57

is one of the biggest threats to China's advance.

0:42:570:42:59

TRANSLATION: There are a very small number of officials who work outside the law.

0:43:030:43:08

They use their power and influence within the government

0:43:080:43:13

to bully you and threaten to take over

0:43:130:43:15

the businesses of honest people.

0:43:150:43:18

That's how they do things.

0:43:180:43:23

In Chinese families, childcare is often the grandparents' responsibility.

0:43:270:43:32

Yuqian hopes to persuade her parents to look after Han Han

0:43:320:43:35

so that she can concentrate on her struggling snack business.

0:43:350:43:39

But business in Chongqing is beginning to thrive,

0:44:110:44:15

and Yuqian's parents are not ready to retire.

0:44:150:44:17

The people of White Horse Village are preparing for an enormous housewarming party.

0:44:340:44:41

After years of argument,

0:44:420:44:44

they've finally agreed to move into their new apartment blocks.

0:44:440:44:48

Each family has a shop front,

0:44:480:44:51

and some businesses are already thriving.

0:44:510:44:53

Today it's the party secretary's brother who's moving in.

0:44:550:44:58

After years of being ignored by local officials,

0:45:070:45:09

the villagers took their grievance about the apartments

0:45:090:45:12

to Chongqing, staging a sit-down protest outside party headquarters.

0:45:120:45:17

Local government was forced into concessions.

0:45:170:45:21

TRANSLATION: In the end, the Wuxi government signed a written agreement,

0:45:220:45:28

guaranteeing the safety of the structure for 50 years.

0:45:280:45:31

So once we got that, we agreed to move in.

0:45:310:45:34

The party secretary and his wife are not moving in with the rest of the village.

0:45:450:45:49

They've bought an apartment in the same commercial building as their daughter.

0:45:490:45:53

Private property, and consumerism -

0:46:380:46:42

none of this would have been permitted under Mao,

0:46:420:46:45

but he remains a hero.

0:46:450:46:47

Some villagers asked questions about where the money

0:47:100:47:14

came from for the party secretary to buy property at commercial prices.

0:47:140:47:19

A formal investigation was launched.

0:47:190:47:22

TRANSLATION: I'm innocent. I wasn't afraid.

0:47:240:47:28

I used only what I should have used, took only what I should have taken.

0:47:280:47:34

Last year they checked everything from top to bottom,

0:47:340:47:38

and now everyone knows that I've been cleared of wrongdoing.

0:47:380:47:42

People realised they'd been wrong and some even apologised.

0:47:420:47:48

In Chongqing, Mr Xie's business is growing,

0:47:530:47:56

but he's still very much hands-on.

0:47:560:47:59

The global economic crisis is being felt across China,

0:48:040:48:07

including the construction sites of Chongqing.

0:48:070:48:10

Cash flow is now his biggest headache.

0:48:100:48:13

TRANSLATION: We're supposed to be paid in full every month,

0:48:160:48:19

but all our partners are having problems so we don't push it.

0:48:190:48:22

It's only when we have trouble paying workers,

0:48:220:48:25

or maintaining the equipment, that we go to collect what we're owed.

0:48:250:48:29

Right now, everybody owes us - some owe us more than £20,000.

0:48:300:48:36

The Xies still own a lot of property back home,

0:48:390:48:43

and with money so tight, Mrs Xie is on her way to collect the rent.

0:48:430:48:47

The new highway from Chongqing has almost reached Wuxi.

0:48:470:48:51

The last stretch is just 50 miles,

0:48:510:48:54

but every inch of it is through mountains and gorges.

0:48:540:48:57

Funded from Beijing,

0:48:570:49:00

it's part of the drive to surpass the American highway network,

0:49:000:49:04

and connect China's newest cities to the global economy.

0:49:040:49:07

Xiang Caiguo has retired from his job as party secretary, after 25 years.

0:49:110:49:17

The man who grew up in a China which executed landlords

0:49:190:49:24

is now the proud owner of four new apartments for rent.

0:49:240:49:27

TRANSLATION: Now I'm retired and I feel a lot more relaxed.

0:49:430:49:48

My children are grown up and I don't have a lot of responsibilities

0:49:490:49:53

so life is very comfortable and I'm happy.

0:49:530:49:56

We've got a rental income now and it's enough for us to live on.

0:49:560:50:01

China's now the world's largest market for bathrooms.

0:50:050:50:09

Xiang Caiguo is doing his bit.

0:50:090:50:11

TRANSLATION: There's no way we could have imagined stuff like this when I was growing up.

0:50:240:50:29

In the 1950s, China was very backward.

0:50:290:50:32

We washed in a wooden bucket. I'd never seen a bath.

0:50:320:50:36

Never imagined it - but now everyone has one.

0:50:360:50:40

Millions of new private bathrooms are contributing to an acute water shortage.

0:50:410:50:46

But they do provide short-term business opportunities.

0:50:460:50:49

There's no shortage of shops in Wuxi new town - business is booming.

0:50:490:50:55

But by my count, about 80% of them

0:50:550:50:57

are to do with home decorating and building materials.

0:50:570:51:00

Take this stretch - that's tiles, paint, front doors

0:51:000:51:04

and, along at the end here, kitchen stoves.

0:51:040:51:07

So my question is, what is going to drive the economy

0:51:070:51:10

when everyone's decorated their apartments?

0:51:100:51:13

The local government is hoping this might be the answer.

0:51:160:51:21

Every new Chinese city has an industrial park.

0:51:210:51:24

But so far there's only one factory here.

0:51:240:51:26

A local man made good in Shenzhen has brought his knitting business home.

0:51:260:51:30

That's just 200 factory jobs.

0:51:300:51:32

There is now a service economy in the city, and it's creating employment.

0:51:400:51:45

After years of waiting and hoping,

0:51:480:51:51

Xiao Zhang finally has paid work close to home...

0:51:510:51:54

one job as a cleaner, and another in a local cafe.

0:51:540:51:58

TRANSLATION: Working here is easier than farming -

0:51:580:52:01

when it rains you don't get wet. It's easier on the body.

0:52:010:52:05

Xiao Zhang works here for four hours a day, earning around £100 a month.

0:52:080:52:12

That's more than she used to make in a year from farming.

0:52:140:52:17

TRANSLATION: I like working here. I can meet new friends

0:52:200:52:23

and it's good to learn how to do the work

0:52:230:52:25

because I want to open my own restaurant in the future.

0:52:250:52:30

She spends her earnings in the new supermarket.

0:52:350:52:39

With millions of subsistence farmers like her leaving the land,

0:52:390:52:43

commercial agriculture and imports are key to feeding China in future

0:52:430:52:48

and Xiao Zhang is looking forward to it.

0:52:480:52:50

TRANSLATION: It will be great for the next generation.

0:52:540:52:57

Transport, the roads, education will make our children's lives so much better.

0:52:570:53:03

Our generation is living through the development stage

0:53:030:53:06

so that our children can benefit.

0:53:060:53:09

THEY CHANT PLAYFULLY

0:53:090:53:12

Perhaps some day Yang Yang's dad can come home from Beijing to work in the family restaurant.

0:53:120:53:16

The promise of a better life for their children

0:53:360:53:40

was why the villagers sacrificed their homes and land.

0:53:400:53:42

And they made it happen.

0:53:470:53:49

Their children have joined the ranks of the educated.

0:53:490:53:52

But only after the parents staged another sit-in -

0:53:520:53:55

an enormous victory for direct action, in a country where taking a stand often ends in prison.

0:53:550:54:00

TRANSLATION: I kept complaining to the leaders

0:54:000:54:05

that we should keep our promise,

0:54:050:54:07

and let the village children go to the new school

0:54:070:54:09

as soon as it was finished.

0:54:090:54:11

We finally achieved this, but it took two years to get done.

0:54:110:54:18

-TRANSLATION:

-This school has given children like me a better education.

0:54:180:54:23

In the past, local people didn't have much schooling,

0:54:230:54:26

but now farmer's children get educated properly.

0:54:260:54:29

That's important.

0:54:290:54:31

-TRANSLATION:

-I want to become a scientist,

0:54:310:54:34

because scientists make a huge contribution to China and the world.

0:54:340:54:39

Many of these children now set their sights on China's top universities.

0:54:410:54:46

There's no going back to farming.

0:54:460:54:49

And for the elderly,

0:54:490:54:51

there are basic pensions and healthcare in the new city.

0:54:510:54:54

But some remain unimpressed.

0:54:540:54:56

Tang Rending has opposed the project throughout,

0:54:560:55:01

and despite the transformation of everything around him,

0:55:010:55:04

he's holding out in his farmhouse.

0:55:040:55:07

TRANSLATION: They haven't made a good job of it. The demolition's unfair.

0:55:070:55:11

I refuse to move out of my house without a good deal.

0:55:110:55:14

The new town's no good.

0:55:140:55:16

In the six years we've been filming with the people of White Horse Village,

0:55:190:55:23

we've seen their lives transformed.

0:55:230:55:26

And across China, a hundred million people have become urban residents.

0:55:260:55:32

Nothing like it has ever been attempted.

0:55:320:55:34

But Mr Tang is not the only one asking questions.

0:55:340:55:38

No one knows whether any of this is sustainable in the long run -

0:55:380:55:43

economically or environmentally.

0:55:430:55:46

But for today at least, worries about the future have been put to one side -

0:55:500:55:55

the people of White Horse Village are ready to party.

0:55:550:55:58

And they have reason to celebrate.

0:56:050:56:07

They've fought long and hard for their rights and won some important battles -

0:56:070:56:11

for their apartments, their shop fronts

0:56:110:56:14

and for their children's education.

0:56:140:56:17

TRANSLATION: In the old days, my mum and dad barely had enough to eat.

0:56:180:56:25

Now we have a much better life.

0:56:250:56:27

We're very lucky.

0:56:270:56:31

-TRANSLATION:

-My new house is much better than my old one.

0:56:360:56:40

It's all thanks to this new town.

0:56:400:56:42

-TRANSLATION:

-Just think about it - we're all farmers here,

0:56:530:56:57

but now we're out dancing in the evenings.

0:56:570:57:00

Old people do t'ai chi in the mornings.

0:57:000:57:02

Even my mum is spending money -

0:57:020:57:04

now she wears even more jewellery than me!

0:57:040:57:06

A city has been born before our eyes.

0:57:140:57:17

100,000 strong, and growing.

0:57:170:57:20

Connected to the rest of China, and impatient to make up for lost time.

0:57:220:57:27

The people of White Horse Village have joined the modern world.

0:57:280:57:32

TRANSLATION: Only with development, with the expansion of the city,

0:57:370:57:41

can we improve our standard of living.

0:57:410:57:45

If you don't develop, if you stand still, then you get left behind.

0:57:450:57:51

-TRANSLATION:

-There used to be nothing -

0:57:530:57:55

no sanitation, no parks, no bridges, absolutely nothing.

0:57:550:57:59

For me, a local girl, it's been amazing.

0:57:590:58:03

The speed of development has been astonishing.

0:58:030:58:06

TRANSLATION: We feel lucky.

0:58:070:58:09

We used to be farmers, and now we're city people.

0:58:090:58:13

It was tough along the way -

0:58:130:58:15

we missed the old life -

0:58:150:58:16

but now we feel better. It's progress.

0:58:160:58:21

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

0:58:380:58:40

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