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White Horse Village, a farming community deep in Western China. | 0:00:13 | 0:00:17 | |
Life here hasn't changed much for hundreds of years | 0:00:22 | 0:00:25 | |
but now it faces transformation on an epic scale. | 0:00:25 | 0:00:29 | |
The village is to be destroyed to make way for a city. | 0:00:34 | 0:00:37 | |
This is the story of a family torn apart by change. | 0:00:39 | 0:00:44 | |
A farmer trying to forge a business empire in China's ruthless economy. | 0:00:50 | 0:00:55 | |
And the communist party secretary who has to convince | 0:01:00 | 0:01:03 | |
the villagers to give up their way of life forever. | 0:01:03 | 0:01:07 | |
Filmed over six years, it's a story being replicated in thousands | 0:01:15 | 0:01:19 | |
of villages all over China. | 0:01:19 | 0:01:21 | |
The biggest urbanisation in human history | 0:01:23 | 0:01:26 | |
and a giant leap of faith in the name of progress. | 0:01:26 | 0:01:29 | |
I've lived and worked in China on and off for nearly 30 years | 0:01:47 | 0:01:50 | |
and when I started filming in White Horse Village | 0:01:50 | 0:01:53 | |
it was just another dirt poor corner of the country. | 0:01:53 | 0:01:57 | |
Farmers working small plots by hand, | 0:01:57 | 0:01:59 | |
counting themselves lucky to earn £200 a year | 0:01:59 | 0:02:02 | |
from selling pigs or silkworms. | 0:02:02 | 0:02:04 | |
A decade ago, the Chinese government embarked | 0:02:08 | 0:02:11 | |
on an ambitious piece of social engineering. | 0:02:11 | 0:02:15 | |
The plan was to drive development west | 0:02:15 | 0:02:18 | |
to modernise thousands of rural communities. | 0:02:18 | 0:02:20 | |
White Horse Village was on the list. | 0:02:20 | 0:02:23 | |
After centuries as a rural backwater, it was destined | 0:02:23 | 0:02:26 | |
to become a high-rise city in a few short years. | 0:02:26 | 0:02:29 | |
China's power and wealth are concentrated | 0:02:33 | 0:02:36 | |
in its coastal mega-cities. | 0:02:36 | 0:02:38 | |
White Horse Village lies a thousand miles inland, in remote Wuxi County. | 0:02:38 | 0:02:43 | |
Now the challenge is to bring China's economic success | 0:02:43 | 0:02:46 | |
to the hinterland. | 0:02:46 | 0:02:48 | |
Xaio Zhang is 32 and she's a rice and pig farmer, | 0:02:55 | 0:02:58 | |
just like her mother before her. | 0:02:58 | 0:03:00 | |
She lives on the outskirts of the village with her two children, | 0:03:03 | 0:03:06 | |
Yang Yang and Pei Pei | 0:03:06 | 0:03:08 | |
Her husband works in a factory in Beijing. | 0:03:19 | 0:03:22 | |
So Xiao Zhang is bringing up her children alone | 0:03:22 | 0:03:25 | |
as well as caring for her in-laws. | 0:03:25 | 0:03:27 | |
There's no money to buy food, so she has to grow everything they eat. | 0:03:33 | 0:03:37 | |
This is the life Xiao Zhang wants for herself and her children. | 0:04:10 | 0:04:14 | |
The cities of the east coast. | 0:04:16 | 0:04:18 | |
Hundreds of millions of farmers flock here | 0:04:18 | 0:04:20 | |
for jobs in the money economy. | 0:04:20 | 0:04:22 | |
Now the government wants to reverse that tide by bringing | 0:04:25 | 0:04:28 | |
the cities to the countryside instead, | 0:04:28 | 0:04:30 | |
turning half a billion farmers into urban consumers, | 0:04:30 | 0:04:34 | |
hoping to spread the wealth | 0:04:34 | 0:04:36 | |
and cure China's dependence on western markets. | 0:04:36 | 0:04:39 | |
But for those who've never left White Horse Village | 0:04:41 | 0:04:44 | |
all of this is unimaginable. | 0:04:44 | 0:04:46 | |
-TRANSLATION: -I'm in my 60s and I've been a farmer all my life. | 0:04:50 | 0:04:53 | |
I don't know how to do business and I can't start now. | 0:04:53 | 0:04:57 | |
We don't know anything about the plans for development. | 0:04:57 | 0:05:00 | |
They told us we have to sell and that we'll have to rely | 0:05:00 | 0:05:04 | |
on financial support from the government. | 0:05:04 | 0:05:07 | |
The village must go to make way for the city | 0:05:08 | 0:05:11 | |
and this is the man who must deliver the orders. | 0:05:11 | 0:05:14 | |
Xiang Caiguo was born just after the Communist revolution of 1949, | 0:05:14 | 0:05:19 | |
and the party has shaped his life. | 0:05:19 | 0:05:23 | |
He grew up under Chairman Mao and he served in the Red Army. | 0:05:23 | 0:05:27 | |
For the last 20 years, he's been White Horse Village's communist party secretary. | 0:05:27 | 0:05:32 | |
-TRANSLATION: -It's a hard job because I have to carry out orders from above. | 0:05:35 | 0:05:39 | |
On the other hand, I have to listen to ordinary people | 0:05:39 | 0:05:41 | |
and find solutions to their problems. | 0:05:41 | 0:05:43 | |
For a party that was founded to fight for the peasants | 0:05:46 | 0:05:49 | |
it's awkward that the cities have benefited so much more from China's growth. | 0:05:49 | 0:05:55 | |
Political stability depends on closing the gap. | 0:05:55 | 0:05:59 | |
It's the party secretary who has to convince his neighbours to give up their houses. | 0:06:05 | 0:06:11 | |
-TRANSLATION: -It's very sad that people have to move. | 0:06:17 | 0:06:20 | |
Many families have been on this land for decades, | 0:06:20 | 0:06:22 | |
even hundreds of years. | 0:06:22 | 0:06:24 | |
They'll miss their old lives here on this land. | 0:06:24 | 0:06:27 | |
The new life can't be as tough as farming. | 0:06:29 | 0:06:31 | |
Farming is really hard work. | 0:06:31 | 0:06:33 | |
You have to make a lot of effort for very little reward | 0:06:33 | 0:06:36 | |
and that's a fact. | 0:06:36 | 0:06:38 | |
The plan for Wuxi New Town - | 0:06:48 | 0:06:49 | |
a city of 200,000 that will transform the valley. | 0:06:49 | 0:06:54 | |
Farmers have no place in this vision. | 0:06:57 | 0:06:59 | |
Every new tower block has to be built on somebody's fields. | 0:07:02 | 0:07:06 | |
Government and developers cutting deals. | 0:07:06 | 0:07:08 | |
In China there's no private land ownership. | 0:07:08 | 0:07:11 | |
The state can take fields from the farmers at will, | 0:07:11 | 0:07:14 | |
give them minimal compensation and lease the land to developers instead - | 0:07:14 | 0:07:18 | |
at 30 times the price. The farmers think that's unfair. | 0:07:18 | 0:07:22 | |
Construction has already started in some parts of the valley. | 0:07:48 | 0:07:52 | |
This is Xie Ting Ming. | 0:07:55 | 0:07:58 | |
He had no hesitations about taking the compensation for his farmland. | 0:07:58 | 0:08:02 | |
At 43, he's been a farmer and a migrant worker. | 0:08:03 | 0:08:06 | |
The plan for a city has given him a chance to start a business | 0:08:06 | 0:08:09 | |
and he's invested his compensation in a bulldozer. | 0:08:09 | 0:08:12 | |
Mr Xie is making friends where it matters. | 0:08:15 | 0:08:18 | |
A villager the government can do business with. | 0:08:18 | 0:08:20 | |
TRANSLATION: The next step will be to build houses, | 0:08:23 | 0:08:26 | |
high-rise buildings and roads. | 0:08:26 | 0:08:29 | |
You can make much more money than being a farmer. | 0:08:29 | 0:08:31 | |
I've got my own projects now, | 0:08:31 | 0:08:32 | |
but I'm also getting involved in other people's projects. | 0:08:32 | 0:08:36 | |
Mr Xie and his team have been busy. | 0:08:38 | 0:08:41 | |
Much of the land on the valley floor has already been cleared. | 0:08:41 | 0:08:45 | |
But the next step towards the new city is harder. | 0:08:45 | 0:08:48 | |
The villagers may not have owned their fields | 0:08:48 | 0:08:50 | |
but they do own their houses. | 0:08:50 | 0:08:53 | |
So they can't be forced out quite so easily. | 0:08:53 | 0:08:56 | |
It's the party secretary's job to measure each farmhouse. | 0:08:57 | 0:09:01 | |
Compensation is calculated on floor space | 0:09:01 | 0:09:04 | |
and he has to convince the farmers to accept it. | 0:09:04 | 0:09:07 | |
Everyone's been promised an apartment and places | 0:09:20 | 0:09:23 | |
for their children in the new high school when the city is built. | 0:09:23 | 0:09:26 | |
But they feel cheated at the low price | 0:09:26 | 0:09:29 | |
they received for their farm land and many are suspicious. | 0:09:29 | 0:09:32 | |
Some villagers are old enough to remember another attempt | 0:09:51 | 0:09:55 | |
by the party to transform their lives - the Great Leap Forward. | 0:09:55 | 0:10:00 | |
Grand promises were made but the result was famine | 0:10:00 | 0:10:03 | |
and in White Horse Village many died. | 0:10:03 | 0:10:05 | |
Now the party is promising transformation again | 0:10:06 | 0:10:09 | |
and Tang Rending voices their shared anxiety. | 0:10:09 | 0:10:12 | |
TRANSLATION: As party secretary, | 0:10:39 | 0:10:41 | |
I can't disagree with central government policy. | 0:10:41 | 0:10:45 | |
The programme is for the welfare of the public | 0:10:45 | 0:10:47 | |
so we must all make sacrifices. | 0:10:47 | 0:10:49 | |
For some, the city can't come fast enough | 0:11:00 | 0:11:03 | |
but Xiao Zhang lives outside the first zone of development | 0:11:03 | 0:11:07 | |
and fears it will be years before she benefits. | 0:11:07 | 0:11:10 | |
Before she had children, she worked as a maid in Beijing | 0:11:11 | 0:11:14 | |
and she knows the cities are the only place to make real money. | 0:11:14 | 0:11:18 | |
-TRANSLATION: -Almost every young couple leaves their children | 0:11:20 | 0:11:23 | |
with their grandparents | 0:11:23 | 0:11:25 | |
and goes away to work as a migrant to make money. | 0:11:25 | 0:11:28 | |
I feel very jealous of those who can go. I don't have a way to do that. | 0:11:31 | 0:11:36 | |
Most young people leave for the cities. | 0:12:47 | 0:12:51 | |
Mr Xie and his wife are taking time out from business | 0:12:52 | 0:12:55 | |
to celebrate their daughter Yuqian's 20th birthday. | 0:12:55 | 0:12:58 | |
She's made a big decision. | 0:12:58 | 0:12:59 | |
The deep valleys and high mountains of this region have kept it | 0:13:33 | 0:13:37 | |
cut off from the modern China that Yuqian wants to belong to. | 0:13:37 | 0:13:41 | |
But for now, her only decision is what to do for her birthday. | 0:13:43 | 0:13:48 | |
In White Horse Village, it's the party secretary's job | 0:14:08 | 0:14:11 | |
to persuade his neighbours to give up their homes for the new city. | 0:14:11 | 0:14:15 | |
But it's personal too. | 0:14:15 | 0:14:16 | |
His ancestors are buried in the fields they once farmed. | 0:14:16 | 0:14:19 | |
The party secretary and his generation have lived through chaos and famine. | 0:14:27 | 0:14:32 | |
But the traditions of life on the land have always endured. | 0:14:32 | 0:14:36 | |
Now they're being asked to give up everything they know. | 0:14:36 | 0:14:40 | |
Eight months later, construction of the new city is well under way. | 0:15:17 | 0:15:22 | |
All these buildings are government offices. | 0:15:22 | 0:15:24 | |
There's no sign of the promised new high school | 0:15:24 | 0:15:27 | |
or the apartments for the farmers. | 0:15:27 | 0:15:30 | |
So they're concerned about where they come on the list of priorities. | 0:15:31 | 0:15:35 | |
There's been no public consultation. | 0:15:39 | 0:15:42 | |
Mr Tang, who had so much to say at the village meeting, | 0:15:42 | 0:15:44 | |
is still waiting for answers on how they're going to make money | 0:15:44 | 0:15:48 | |
now their farmlands been confiscated. | 0:15:48 | 0:15:50 | |
It's the run up to Chinese New Year, the biggest festival in the calendar | 0:16:17 | 0:16:21 | |
and a time when families get together. | 0:16:21 | 0:16:24 | |
Xaio Zhang is preparing for a rare trip home by her husband Chang Seng. | 0:16:27 | 0:16:31 | |
In a few days, she'll slaughter the pig she's been fattening up all year. | 0:16:31 | 0:16:35 | |
Chang Seng works a thousand miles away in Beijing. | 0:16:37 | 0:16:40 | |
With no jobs in White Horse Village, | 0:16:45 | 0:16:47 | |
this is the only way they can save for their children's future. | 0:16:47 | 0:16:51 | |
Earning £20 for a seven-day week in a chemical factory, | 0:16:53 | 0:16:56 | |
Chang Sheng is one of the unsung heroes of China's economic miracle. | 0:16:56 | 0:17:01 | |
The low cost labour behind the products that flood world markets. | 0:17:03 | 0:17:07 | |
TRANSLATION: I never wanted to leave home while my children | 0:17:08 | 0:17:12 | |
were so small. | 0:17:12 | 0:17:14 | |
I wasn't even there when my son was born. | 0:17:14 | 0:17:17 | |
Last year I only spent three weeks at home | 0:17:17 | 0:17:21 | |
and then I had to come back to Beijing. | 0:17:21 | 0:17:23 | |
Chang Sheng plans to persuade Xiao Zhang that this time, | 0:17:28 | 0:17:31 | |
he should stay with the family for good. | 0:17:31 | 0:17:34 | |
150 million people leave their families to work in the cities. | 0:17:40 | 0:17:44 | |
For Chang Seng, it's a three-day journey home. | 0:17:48 | 0:17:51 | |
On his journey home, Chang Sheng witnesses the extent of China's transformation. | 0:18:18 | 0:18:23 | |
Along the Yangtze River more than a million people have been resettled | 0:18:23 | 0:18:26 | |
in new cities to make way for the Three Gorges dam and reservoir. | 0:18:26 | 0:18:30 | |
And all these new cities are being linked with a motorway network | 0:18:34 | 0:18:38 | |
part of the ambition for a 21st century infrastructure. | 0:18:38 | 0:18:42 | |
Perhaps when Yang Yang and Pei Pei grow up there will be well-paid jobs at home. | 0:18:45 | 0:18:50 | |
But for now, work means separation and they have a father | 0:18:50 | 0:18:54 | |
they barely remember. | 0:18:54 | 0:18:55 | |
In the village, the party secretary is taking his campaign | 0:19:16 | 0:19:19 | |
from house to house, hoping a new year gift will smooth the way. | 0:19:19 | 0:19:24 | |
Xaio Zhang and Chang Sheng spend their first day together | 0:20:15 | 0:20:19 | |
preparing the pork for their traditional New Year feast. | 0:20:19 | 0:20:23 | |
But they don't see eye to eye. | 0:20:25 | 0:20:28 | |
New Year is a rare moment in China when construction actually stops. | 0:21:00 | 0:21:05 | |
But for Mr and Mrs Xie business never stops. | 0:21:08 | 0:21:10 | |
On the eve of the holiday, the workers must get their annual bonus. | 0:21:10 | 0:21:15 | |
It's not just the Xies who are feeling rich. | 0:21:27 | 0:21:30 | |
It's been another year in which China's economy has grown by more than 10%. | 0:21:30 | 0:21:36 | |
The Xies' new wealth paid for the village's first ever white wedding | 0:21:43 | 0:21:48 | |
when their daughter Yuqian married her businessman boyfriend. | 0:21:48 | 0:21:53 | |
TRANSLATION: Business has been good since my daughter got married. | 0:21:53 | 0:21:57 | |
New officials have been appointed to the development project | 0:21:57 | 0:22:02 | |
which means the new town will happen even faster. | 0:22:02 | 0:22:05 | |
I'm going to buy more equipment, another new digger | 0:22:05 | 0:22:09 | |
and hire more workers. | 0:22:09 | 0:22:11 | |
I'm hoping business will get even better. | 0:22:11 | 0:22:14 | |
After the wedding, Yuqian rejected her parents' advice. | 0:22:16 | 0:22:19 | |
She moved to the city of Shenzhen to start a new business | 0:22:19 | 0:22:23 | |
with her husband. | 0:22:23 | 0:22:24 | |
There's important news to catch up on. | 0:22:35 | 0:22:37 | |
The party secretary can finally forget the cares of village politics, | 0:23:30 | 0:23:33 | |
even if it's just for one night. | 0:23:33 | 0:23:35 | |
One person is missing. | 0:23:50 | 0:23:51 | |
His daughter Rui Lin is a migrant worker in Shenzhen | 0:23:51 | 0:23:55 | |
and has decided to save money rather than spend it coming home. | 0:23:55 | 0:23:59 | |
The party secretary and his wife are bringing up her little girl. | 0:23:59 | 0:24:03 | |
Tonight, the villagers celebrate the new year. | 0:24:21 | 0:24:24 | |
Soon the Xies will get a grandchild | 0:24:24 | 0:24:26 | |
and Chang Seng will have to make the long journey back to Beijing. | 0:24:26 | 0:24:31 | |
But for the village, the future is as uncertain as ever. | 0:24:32 | 0:24:36 | |
Seven months later and progress on the new city has slowed down. | 0:24:52 | 0:24:56 | |
The villagers still don't like the plan for their apartment blocks | 0:24:56 | 0:25:00 | |
and are refusing to move out of their farmhouses. | 0:25:00 | 0:25:04 | |
Officials are getting impatient. | 0:25:04 | 0:25:06 | |
TRANSLATION: Farmers here are rather backward. | 0:25:08 | 0:25:11 | |
They want to be able to feed their pigs, cows, chickens and sheep - | 0:25:11 | 0:25:16 | |
they're not used to the idea of living in an apartment block. | 0:25:16 | 0:25:19 | |
So the process of building a new town is also about changing their way of thinking. | 0:25:19 | 0:25:26 | |
The Xie family have always embraced the plan for the new city. | 0:25:28 | 0:25:33 | |
Mr and Mrs Xie have used their contacts | 0:25:33 | 0:25:35 | |
to buy a commercial apartment at a knockdown price. | 0:25:35 | 0:25:38 | |
They're hoping they can persuade daughter Yuqian | 0:25:38 | 0:25:41 | |
to move back home with her new family. | 0:25:41 | 0:25:43 | |
700 miles from White Horse Village | 0:26:25 | 0:26:28 | |
is Shenzhen - China's export hub in the Pearl River Delta. | 0:26:28 | 0:26:32 | |
30 years ago, it was little more than a fishing village - | 0:26:36 | 0:26:40 | |
now, with a population of 12 million | 0:26:40 | 0:26:42 | |
it's the centre of the biggest manufacturing region in the world. | 0:26:42 | 0:26:46 | |
A place where fortunes are made. | 0:26:46 | 0:26:48 | |
Xiao Zhang has convinced her mum to look after her children, | 0:26:51 | 0:26:54 | |
and come to Shenzhen to see if she can find work. | 0:26:54 | 0:26:57 | |
There's already a network of friends and relatives | 0:26:58 | 0:27:02 | |
from White Horse Village who might be able to help. | 0:27:02 | 0:27:06 | |
Rui Lin is the party secretary's daughter. | 0:27:06 | 0:27:10 | |
She's worked here for ten years in a shoe factory. | 0:27:10 | 0:27:12 | |
While her mum's away, Yang Yang has to grow up quickly. | 0:27:55 | 0:27:59 | |
It's a three-mile walk to the local primary school. | 0:27:59 | 0:28:02 | |
FANFARE | 0:28:02 | 0:28:06 | |
THEY SING A STIRRING SONG | 0:28:08 | 0:28:09 | |
Competition for places at the new high school will be intense. | 0:28:15 | 0:28:19 | |
At four, Yang Yang already knows she has to stand out. | 0:28:19 | 0:28:22 | |
PHONE RINGING | 0:28:27 | 0:28:30 | |
Their grandmother is ill and has no health insurance. | 0:28:31 | 0:28:34 | |
If Xiao Zhang gets a city job, it'll pay for medicine. | 0:28:35 | 0:28:38 | |
In village politics, battle lines are being drawn. | 0:29:01 | 0:29:06 | |
Finishing the Communist Party headquarters has taken up much of the construction budget, | 0:29:06 | 0:29:10 | |
and now the bosses want a public square in front. | 0:29:10 | 0:29:15 | |
The farmers' mud brick homes are in the way, | 0:29:15 | 0:29:17 | |
and eviction notices have been posted. | 0:29:17 | 0:29:19 | |
Beijing's intention was to bring them prosperity, | 0:29:26 | 0:29:29 | |
but all the villagers see is local officials looking after themselves. | 0:29:29 | 0:29:34 | |
In 2007, China saw over 70,000 riots, | 0:29:51 | 0:29:56 | |
most of them sparked by the confiscation of land and homes. | 0:29:56 | 0:29:59 | |
In response, central government announced a new slogan, | 0:29:59 | 0:30:03 | |
"Harmonious Society", a reminder to local government | 0:30:03 | 0:30:07 | |
that everyone should benefit from progress. | 0:30:07 | 0:30:10 | |
But the harmonious message hasn't reached White Horse Village yet. | 0:30:10 | 0:30:14 | |
It's four years since their land was confiscated, | 0:30:55 | 0:30:59 | |
and the villagers know the stalemate over their houses can't go on. | 0:30:59 | 0:31:03 | |
Now the party secretary's been ordered to set an example | 0:31:05 | 0:31:08 | |
and have his own home demolished - or face the sack. | 0:31:08 | 0:31:11 | |
It's a turning point - | 0:31:18 | 0:31:20 | |
most of the farmers follow his lead and give up their homes. | 0:31:20 | 0:31:23 | |
Until the apartment blocks are built, this is their new home. | 0:31:43 | 0:31:48 | |
There's no hot water or heating, | 0:31:52 | 0:31:55 | |
and the toilets are in a communal block. | 0:31:55 | 0:31:58 | |
Hardly the good life they were promised. | 0:31:59 | 0:32:02 | |
The party secretary's family have lived on this land for generations. | 0:32:07 | 0:32:13 | |
TRANSLATION: Right now is the hardest time. | 0:33:04 | 0:33:07 | |
We've lost our land and our houses. | 0:33:07 | 0:33:09 | |
The government is thinking about how they can resettle us. | 0:33:09 | 0:33:13 | |
They've got lots of things to sort out. | 0:33:13 | 0:33:16 | |
China's new inland cities will consume vast amounts of energy, | 0:33:22 | 0:33:26 | |
and these mountains are rich in natural resources. | 0:33:26 | 0:33:29 | |
The Xies have won the contract for a road to a coal mine and dam, | 0:33:38 | 0:33:41 | |
growing their business beyond the valley. | 0:33:41 | 0:33:43 | |
It's a difficult and dangerous business. | 0:33:59 | 0:34:02 | |
Three people have died on this project already. | 0:34:03 | 0:34:06 | |
TRANSLATION: It's really tough up here. | 0:34:07 | 0:34:10 | |
There's a constant danger of rock falls hurting people | 0:34:10 | 0:34:13 | |
and damaging equipment. | 0:34:13 | 0:34:16 | |
It's very dangerous, | 0:34:16 | 0:34:19 | |
but this is the project the government has given us. | 0:34:19 | 0:34:21 | |
We have to get it done and we have to do it fast. | 0:34:21 | 0:34:24 | |
We have many projects around here, but there's not enough money | 0:34:28 | 0:34:32 | |
in the area. We have to invest a lot and it's very competitive. | 0:34:32 | 0:34:36 | |
It'll be easier to make money in Chongqing. | 0:34:36 | 0:34:40 | |
The emerging mega-city Chongqing is 200 miles away, | 0:34:44 | 0:34:48 | |
but despite the distance | 0:34:48 | 0:34:50 | |
its boundary extends to White Horse Village - | 0:34:50 | 0:34:53 | |
a sign of how big China intends this urban region to become. | 0:34:53 | 0:34:57 | |
The Xies have persuaded Yuqian to move to Chongqing, | 0:34:59 | 0:35:02 | |
and given her husband a start in construction - | 0:35:02 | 0:35:06 | |
the first stage of their own plans in the city. | 0:35:06 | 0:35:08 | |
Yuqian's got to start again and build a new business. | 0:35:13 | 0:35:16 | |
Being a full-time mum was never her plan, and she doesn't want to get | 0:35:35 | 0:35:38 | |
trapped at home when there are so many opportunities here. | 0:35:38 | 0:35:42 | |
Xiao Zhang's taste of city life didn't last long. | 0:35:49 | 0:35:53 | |
Her mum found looking after the kids on her own too much. | 0:35:53 | 0:35:57 | |
The one hope left for Xaio Chang | 0:36:44 | 0:36:45 | |
is that her children might go to the new high school. | 0:36:45 | 0:36:48 | |
It's the best in the county, and will soon have 5,000 pupils. | 0:36:48 | 0:36:52 | |
THEY RECITE ENGLISH PHRASES | 0:36:52 | 0:36:56 | |
English is taught here as well as computer science - | 0:37:00 | 0:37:03 | |
part of China's campaign | 0:37:03 | 0:37:05 | |
to prepare the next generation for global competition. | 0:37:05 | 0:37:08 | |
The villagers were promised places for THEIR children. | 0:37:14 | 0:37:17 | |
But none have been allowed to enrol. | 0:37:17 | 0:37:20 | |
Rural children have always been the outsiders | 0:37:21 | 0:37:24 | |
when it comes to educational opportunity in China. | 0:37:24 | 0:37:27 | |
Now it looks they might lose out, even in the new city. | 0:37:27 | 0:37:31 | |
As usual, the only person to whom the villagers can air their grievance | 0:37:32 | 0:37:36 | |
is the party secretary. | 0:37:36 | 0:37:38 | |
The city has arrived. Wuxi new town. | 0:38:40 | 0:38:44 | |
Just four years ago all of this was fields, | 0:38:46 | 0:38:50 | |
but there's no trace now of White Horse Village. | 0:38:50 | 0:38:53 | |
Instead, a thriving money economy, | 0:38:57 | 0:38:59 | |
where every day brings the launch of a new business. | 0:38:59 | 0:39:02 | |
But the villagers are not yet part of city life. | 0:39:05 | 0:39:08 | |
They're still living in the temporary housing. | 0:39:10 | 0:39:12 | |
Their apartment block has now been built, | 0:39:12 | 0:39:16 | |
but they're unhappy with the quality and they're refusing to move in. | 0:39:16 | 0:39:20 | |
They think the developers have cut corners to line their own pockets. | 0:39:22 | 0:39:26 | |
They've made a video, and bypassed local officials | 0:39:26 | 0:39:29 | |
to send their complaints direct to Chongqing. | 0:39:29 | 0:39:32 | |
Two years ago, an earthquake nearby killed 70,000 people. | 0:39:51 | 0:39:55 | |
Building standards can mean life or death. | 0:39:55 | 0:39:58 | |
The prospect of jobs and businesses in the new city | 0:40:19 | 0:40:21 | |
is bringing young migrants home. | 0:40:21 | 0:40:24 | |
The party secretary's daughter Rui Lin has saved enough money | 0:40:24 | 0:40:27 | |
to buy her dream apartment in an upmarket block. | 0:40:27 | 0:40:30 | |
Her parents have come round to celebrate. | 0:40:30 | 0:40:34 | |
The city expansion hasn't reached Xiao Zhang's house yet. | 0:41:13 | 0:41:19 | |
But she's been making a little money by renting out | 0:41:19 | 0:41:21 | |
the top floor of her house to construction workers. | 0:41:21 | 0:41:24 | |
She built an extension, but bigger buildings | 0:41:24 | 0:41:28 | |
mean more compensation, so only the government is licensed to build. | 0:41:28 | 0:41:32 | |
Lots of people get away with it | 0:41:32 | 0:41:34 | |
but Xiao Zhang doesn't have the connections you need. | 0:41:34 | 0:41:36 | |
What is true in Wuxi is true in Chongqing and for bigger stakes. | 0:42:19 | 0:42:24 | |
Mr Xie knows for his business to succeed in the new China, | 0:42:25 | 0:42:28 | |
he has to build good relationships. | 0:42:28 | 0:42:30 | |
TRANSLATION: When we first arrived, we didn't know anyone. | 0:42:32 | 0:42:37 | |
After a while I started to make contacts with property developers, | 0:42:37 | 0:42:40 | |
and eventually they started calling to offer me business. | 0:42:40 | 0:42:44 | |
The line between connections and corruption can easily get blurred. | 0:42:46 | 0:42:51 | |
In Chongqing they've arrested thousands. | 0:42:51 | 0:42:53 | |
But even the Communist Party admits corruption | 0:42:54 | 0:42:57 | |
is one of the biggest threats to China's advance. | 0:42:57 | 0:42:59 | |
TRANSLATION: There are a very small number of officials who work outside the law. | 0:43:03 | 0:43:08 | |
They use their power and influence within the government | 0:43:08 | 0:43:13 | |
to bully you and threaten to take over | 0:43:13 | 0:43:15 | |
the businesses of honest people. | 0:43:15 | 0:43:18 | |
That's how they do things. | 0:43:18 | 0:43:23 | |
In Chinese families, childcare is often the grandparents' responsibility. | 0:43:27 | 0:43:32 | |
Yuqian hopes to persuade her parents to look after Han Han | 0:43:32 | 0:43:35 | |
so that she can concentrate on her struggling snack business. | 0:43:35 | 0:43:39 | |
But business in Chongqing is beginning to thrive, | 0:44:11 | 0:44:15 | |
and Yuqian's parents are not ready to retire. | 0:44:15 | 0:44:17 | |
The people of White Horse Village are preparing for an enormous housewarming party. | 0:44:34 | 0:44:41 | |
After years of argument, | 0:44:42 | 0:44:44 | |
they've finally agreed to move into their new apartment blocks. | 0:44:44 | 0:44:48 | |
Each family has a shop front, | 0:44:48 | 0:44:51 | |
and some businesses are already thriving. | 0:44:51 | 0:44:53 | |
Today it's the party secretary's brother who's moving in. | 0:44:55 | 0:44:58 | |
After years of being ignored by local officials, | 0:45:07 | 0:45:09 | |
the villagers took their grievance about the apartments | 0:45:09 | 0:45:12 | |
to Chongqing, staging a sit-down protest outside party headquarters. | 0:45:12 | 0:45:17 | |
Local government was forced into concessions. | 0:45:17 | 0:45:21 | |
TRANSLATION: In the end, the Wuxi government signed a written agreement, | 0:45:22 | 0:45:28 | |
guaranteeing the safety of the structure for 50 years. | 0:45:28 | 0:45:31 | |
So once we got that, we agreed to move in. | 0:45:31 | 0:45:34 | |
The party secretary and his wife are not moving in with the rest of the village. | 0:45:45 | 0:45:49 | |
They've bought an apartment in the same commercial building as their daughter. | 0:45:49 | 0:45:53 | |
Private property, and consumerism - | 0:46:38 | 0:46:42 | |
none of this would have been permitted under Mao, | 0:46:42 | 0:46:45 | |
but he remains a hero. | 0:46:45 | 0:46:47 | |
Some villagers asked questions about where the money | 0:47:10 | 0:47:14 | |
came from for the party secretary to buy property at commercial prices. | 0:47:14 | 0:47:19 | |
A formal investigation was launched. | 0:47:19 | 0:47:22 | |
TRANSLATION: I'm innocent. I wasn't afraid. | 0:47:24 | 0:47:28 | |
I used only what I should have used, took only what I should have taken. | 0:47:28 | 0:47:34 | |
Last year they checked everything from top to bottom, | 0:47:34 | 0:47:38 | |
and now everyone knows that I've been cleared of wrongdoing. | 0:47:38 | 0:47:42 | |
People realised they'd been wrong and some even apologised. | 0:47:42 | 0:47:48 | |
In Chongqing, Mr Xie's business is growing, | 0:47:53 | 0:47:56 | |
but he's still very much hands-on. | 0:47:56 | 0:47:59 | |
The global economic crisis is being felt across China, | 0:48:04 | 0:48:07 | |
including the construction sites of Chongqing. | 0:48:07 | 0:48:10 | |
Cash flow is now his biggest headache. | 0:48:10 | 0:48:13 | |
TRANSLATION: We're supposed to be paid in full every month, | 0:48:16 | 0:48:19 | |
but all our partners are having problems so we don't push it. | 0:48:19 | 0:48:22 | |
It's only when we have trouble paying workers, | 0:48:22 | 0:48:25 | |
or maintaining the equipment, that we go to collect what we're owed. | 0:48:25 | 0:48:29 | |
Right now, everybody owes us - some owe us more than £20,000. | 0:48:30 | 0:48:36 | |
The Xies still own a lot of property back home, | 0:48:39 | 0:48:43 | |
and with money so tight, Mrs Xie is on her way to collect the rent. | 0:48:43 | 0:48:47 | |
The new highway from Chongqing has almost reached Wuxi. | 0:48:47 | 0:48:51 | |
The last stretch is just 50 miles, | 0:48:51 | 0:48:54 | |
but every inch of it is through mountains and gorges. | 0:48:54 | 0:48:57 | |
Funded from Beijing, | 0:48:57 | 0:49:00 | |
it's part of the drive to surpass the American highway network, | 0:49:00 | 0:49:04 | |
and connect China's newest cities to the global economy. | 0:49:04 | 0:49:07 | |
Xiang Caiguo has retired from his job as party secretary, after 25 years. | 0:49:11 | 0:49:17 | |
The man who grew up in a China which executed landlords | 0:49:19 | 0:49:24 | |
is now the proud owner of four new apartments for rent. | 0:49:24 | 0:49:27 | |
TRANSLATION: Now I'm retired and I feel a lot more relaxed. | 0:49:43 | 0:49:48 | |
My children are grown up and I don't have a lot of responsibilities | 0:49:49 | 0:49:53 | |
so life is very comfortable and I'm happy. | 0:49:53 | 0:49:56 | |
We've got a rental income now and it's enough for us to live on. | 0:49:56 | 0:50:01 | |
China's now the world's largest market for bathrooms. | 0:50:05 | 0:50:09 | |
Xiang Caiguo is doing his bit. | 0:50:09 | 0:50:11 | |
TRANSLATION: There's no way we could have imagined stuff like this when I was growing up. | 0:50:24 | 0:50:29 | |
In the 1950s, China was very backward. | 0:50:29 | 0:50:32 | |
We washed in a wooden bucket. I'd never seen a bath. | 0:50:32 | 0:50:36 | |
Never imagined it - but now everyone has one. | 0:50:36 | 0:50:40 | |
Millions of new private bathrooms are contributing to an acute water shortage. | 0:50:41 | 0:50:46 | |
But they do provide short-term business opportunities. | 0:50:46 | 0:50:49 | |
There's no shortage of shops in Wuxi new town - business is booming. | 0:50:49 | 0:50:55 | |
But by my count, about 80% of them | 0:50:55 | 0:50:57 | |
are to do with home decorating and building materials. | 0:50:57 | 0:51:00 | |
Take this stretch - that's tiles, paint, front doors | 0:51:00 | 0:51:04 | |
and, along at the end here, kitchen stoves. | 0:51:04 | 0:51:07 | |
So my question is, what is going to drive the economy | 0:51:07 | 0:51:10 | |
when everyone's decorated their apartments? | 0:51:10 | 0:51:13 | |
The local government is hoping this might be the answer. | 0:51:16 | 0:51:21 | |
Every new Chinese city has an industrial park. | 0:51:21 | 0:51:24 | |
But so far there's only one factory here. | 0:51:24 | 0:51:26 | |
A local man made good in Shenzhen has brought his knitting business home. | 0:51:26 | 0:51:30 | |
That's just 200 factory jobs. | 0:51:30 | 0:51:32 | |
There is now a service economy in the city, and it's creating employment. | 0:51:40 | 0:51:45 | |
After years of waiting and hoping, | 0:51:48 | 0:51:51 | |
Xiao Zhang finally has paid work close to home... | 0:51:51 | 0:51:54 | |
one job as a cleaner, and another in a local cafe. | 0:51:54 | 0:51:58 | |
TRANSLATION: Working here is easier than farming - | 0:51:58 | 0:52:01 | |
when it rains you don't get wet. It's easier on the body. | 0:52:01 | 0:52:05 | |
Xiao Zhang works here for four hours a day, earning around £100 a month. | 0:52:08 | 0:52:12 | |
That's more than she used to make in a year from farming. | 0:52:14 | 0:52:17 | |
TRANSLATION: I like working here. I can meet new friends | 0:52:20 | 0:52:23 | |
and it's good to learn how to do the work | 0:52:23 | 0:52:25 | |
because I want to open my own restaurant in the future. | 0:52:25 | 0:52:30 | |
She spends her earnings in the new supermarket. | 0:52:35 | 0:52:39 | |
With millions of subsistence farmers like her leaving the land, | 0:52:39 | 0:52:43 | |
commercial agriculture and imports are key to feeding China in future | 0:52:43 | 0:52:48 | |
and Xiao Zhang is looking forward to it. | 0:52:48 | 0:52:50 | |
TRANSLATION: It will be great for the next generation. | 0:52:54 | 0:52:57 | |
Transport, the roads, education will make our children's lives so much better. | 0:52:57 | 0:53:03 | |
Our generation is living through the development stage | 0:53:03 | 0:53:06 | |
so that our children can benefit. | 0:53:06 | 0:53:09 | |
THEY CHANT PLAYFULLY | 0:53:09 | 0:53:12 | |
Perhaps some day Yang Yang's dad can come home from Beijing to work in the family restaurant. | 0:53:12 | 0:53:16 | |
The promise of a better life for their children | 0:53:36 | 0:53:40 | |
was why the villagers sacrificed their homes and land. | 0:53:40 | 0:53:42 | |
And they made it happen. | 0:53:47 | 0:53:49 | |
Their children have joined the ranks of the educated. | 0:53:49 | 0:53:52 | |
But only after the parents staged another sit-in - | 0:53:52 | 0:53:55 | |
an enormous victory for direct action, in a country where taking a stand often ends in prison. | 0:53:55 | 0:54:00 | |
TRANSLATION: I kept complaining to the leaders | 0:54:00 | 0:54:05 | |
that we should keep our promise, | 0:54:05 | 0:54:07 | |
and let the village children go to the new school | 0:54:07 | 0:54:09 | |
as soon as it was finished. | 0:54:09 | 0:54:11 | |
We finally achieved this, but it took two years to get done. | 0:54:11 | 0:54:18 | |
-TRANSLATION: -This school has given children like me a better education. | 0:54:18 | 0:54:23 | |
In the past, local people didn't have much schooling, | 0:54:23 | 0:54:26 | |
but now farmer's children get educated properly. | 0:54:26 | 0:54:29 | |
That's important. | 0:54:29 | 0:54:31 | |
-TRANSLATION: -I want to become a scientist, | 0:54:31 | 0:54:34 | |
because scientists make a huge contribution to China and the world. | 0:54:34 | 0:54:39 | |
Many of these children now set their sights on China's top universities. | 0:54:41 | 0:54:46 | |
There's no going back to farming. | 0:54:46 | 0:54:49 | |
And for the elderly, | 0:54:49 | 0:54:51 | |
there are basic pensions and healthcare in the new city. | 0:54:51 | 0:54:54 | |
But some remain unimpressed. | 0:54:54 | 0:54:56 | |
Tang Rending has opposed the project throughout, | 0:54:56 | 0:55:01 | |
and despite the transformation of everything around him, | 0:55:01 | 0:55:04 | |
he's holding out in his farmhouse. | 0:55:04 | 0:55:07 | |
TRANSLATION: They haven't made a good job of it. The demolition's unfair. | 0:55:07 | 0:55:11 | |
I refuse to move out of my house without a good deal. | 0:55:11 | 0:55:14 | |
The new town's no good. | 0:55:14 | 0:55:16 | |
In the six years we've been filming with the people of White Horse Village, | 0:55:19 | 0:55:23 | |
we've seen their lives transformed. | 0:55:23 | 0:55:26 | |
And across China, a hundred million people have become urban residents. | 0:55:26 | 0:55:32 | |
Nothing like it has ever been attempted. | 0:55:32 | 0:55:34 | |
But Mr Tang is not the only one asking questions. | 0:55:34 | 0:55:38 | |
No one knows whether any of this is sustainable in the long run - | 0:55:38 | 0:55:43 | |
economically or environmentally. | 0:55:43 | 0:55:46 | |
But for today at least, worries about the future have been put to one side - | 0:55:50 | 0:55:55 | |
the people of White Horse Village are ready to party. | 0:55:55 | 0:55:58 | |
And they have reason to celebrate. | 0:56:05 | 0:56:07 | |
They've fought long and hard for their rights and won some important battles - | 0:56:07 | 0:56:11 | |
for their apartments, their shop fronts | 0:56:11 | 0:56:14 | |
and for their children's education. | 0:56:14 | 0:56:17 | |
TRANSLATION: In the old days, my mum and dad barely had enough to eat. | 0:56:18 | 0:56:25 | |
Now we have a much better life. | 0:56:25 | 0:56:27 | |
We're very lucky. | 0:56:27 | 0:56:31 | |
-TRANSLATION: -My new house is much better than my old one. | 0:56:36 | 0:56:40 | |
It's all thanks to this new town. | 0:56:40 | 0:56:42 | |
-TRANSLATION: -Just think about it - we're all farmers here, | 0:56:53 | 0:56:57 | |
but now we're out dancing in the evenings. | 0:56:57 | 0:57:00 | |
Old people do t'ai chi in the mornings. | 0:57:00 | 0:57:02 | |
Even my mum is spending money - | 0:57:02 | 0:57:04 | |
now she wears even more jewellery than me! | 0:57:04 | 0:57:06 | |
A city has been born before our eyes. | 0:57:14 | 0:57:17 | |
100,000 strong, and growing. | 0:57:17 | 0:57:20 | |
Connected to the rest of China, and impatient to make up for lost time. | 0:57:22 | 0:57:27 | |
The people of White Horse Village have joined the modern world. | 0:57:28 | 0:57:32 | |
TRANSLATION: Only with development, with the expansion of the city, | 0:57:37 | 0:57:41 | |
can we improve our standard of living. | 0:57:41 | 0:57:45 | |
If you don't develop, if you stand still, then you get left behind. | 0:57:45 | 0:57:51 | |
-TRANSLATION: -There used to be nothing - | 0:57:53 | 0:57:55 | |
no sanitation, no parks, no bridges, absolutely nothing. | 0:57:55 | 0:57:59 | |
For me, a local girl, it's been amazing. | 0:57:59 | 0:58:03 | |
The speed of development has been astonishing. | 0:58:03 | 0:58:06 | |
TRANSLATION: We feel lucky. | 0:58:07 | 0:58:09 | |
We used to be farmers, and now we're city people. | 0:58:09 | 0:58:13 | |
It was tough along the way - | 0:58:13 | 0:58:15 | |
we missed the old life - | 0:58:15 | 0:58:16 | |
but now we feel better. It's progress. | 0:58:16 | 0:58:21 | |
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd | 0:58:38 | 0:58:40 |