A Billion Chinese Dreams

In 2010, longtime Beijing correspondent for The New Yorker, Peter Hessler, published the book “Country Driving”. Hessler spent 7 years in China, and he wrote lovingly of the lives of ordinary farmers, migrant workers, and entrepreneurs transformed by the massive changes. Inspired by the book, this series revisits some of the protagonists 10 years later. Retracing four unique routes – along the Great Wall, following the railways running north-to-south, across the Hu Line, and following the flow of the Yangtze River – we traverse this massive country to probe the meaning of home and happiness; the result of economic growth; the rich-poor divide; and the issue of sustainable development as the people seek to define their Chinese dream.

 

Description

Genre: Documentary
Language: English
Year: 2019

Duration: 4 Episodes x 60 Minutes
Territory/Rights available: Contact us for more details
Show Format: HD

Episodes

Episode 1 – The East-West Transformation Along The Great Wall
The villages and cities running east-to-west along the Great Wall have seen tremendous change since the reforms. But how has the inner world of the Chinese been shaped by these changes?

Episode 2 – The North-South Engine of Economic Growth
We travel the high speed railways running from north to south to experience the engine of China’s economic development.

Episode 3 – Balancing Income Equality Over The Hu Line Divide
First described by geographer Hu Huanyong in 1935, the “Hu Line” represents China’s stark realities – from an unbalanced population distribution, to the massive rich-poor gap

Episode 4 – Achieving Sustainable Development Along The Yangtze River
The Yangtze River passes through 11 provinces in China. Along this route from west to east, what do ordinary Chinese think about sustainable development?