This happy life
Mr Liu is head of passenger affaires at Zhengzhou, one of China’s busiest stations. And Mr Fu is party secretary and responsible for the political education of the station staff. Both men are filmed working at this hectic station where chaos is rife when about 1.2 million people are trying to get home on the eve of Chinese New Year. Filmmaker Yue Jiang goes deep into the souls of these two men and reveals their family lives, political ideals, dreams and economic ordeals in a country that may soon be the world’s greatest power.
Social interest
‘People with children, climb through the windows.’ This isn’t an unusual instruction from the staff of Zhengzhou station, China’s busiest train station where giving away a found baby to a fruit vendor and the murder of a passenger by a psychopath are just part of the daily routine. Set against this backdrop THIS HAPPY LIFE is an intimate portrait of two promininent station managers living in a country that is in a complete social transition.
About the series
Interesting Times is a much celebrated four part series showing different aspects of modern life in China. THE WAR OF LOVE is a portrait of a marriage broker. SHAO’S LONG MARCH is about the Chinese army. THE SECRET OF MY SUCCESS shows how Chinese politics are implemented in the countryside. And THIS HAPPY LIFE aims to define the concept of political education in China. The series was made as a result of a workshop at the IDFA forum