广东中山。众多来自农村的年轻工人们在赶制下一年的订单。他们日夜加班,像机器一样重复着单调的动作一一手中的活计必须以最快的速度完成,因为最大可能地提高单位时间里的工作效率即意味着他们在月底能拿到最多可能的薪水;而事实上,即便这“最多”也仍旧少得可怜。无数把各种颜色样式的雨伞在他们手中成型、诞生,而每一把伞能为其他人赚多少钱,却是他们不知道的。
Zhongshan, Guangdong Province. Many young off-farm workers are busy working for orders of next year. They work day after night, repeating monotonous tasks just like machines, they have to finish their tasks at the highest speed, since maximum output per unit time means that they will earn as much money as possible; but in fact, even that is rather slim. While they make numerous numbers of umbrellas in various colors and styles, they have no idea how much an umbrella earns for others.
浙江义乌。得天独厚的地理条件使得这里有机会成为了“世界工厂”与“世界市场”接靠的最前沿。为了经济开发,农民们的土地被征用了,一些幸运者得到了可观的赔偿。其中一些在新建起来的、号称是世界最大的国际小商品市场里做着批发雨伞的生意,常常是日进斗金。他们的生活几乎彻底改变了,“农民” 似乎已经和他们的身份没有任何关系了。
Yiwu, Zhejiang Province. Advantaged geographic location gives this city an opportunity to become the foreland connecting “World Factory” and “World Market”. Local farmers’ lands were expropriated for enhancing economic development. A few lucky local inhabitants were compensated considerably for their land loss. Some of them are engaging in umbrella wholesale business in the newly constructed gigantic building, the so-called World’s Largest Small Commodity Market. Now they are nouveaux riches, and their lifestyle has almost changed completely, there seems no longer any relationship between the term “Farmers” and their current status.
上海。教育改革中的大学产业化了。更多的高中毕业生可以入读大学,同时也有更多的农村家庭因为子女的学费困窘不已。而更为严酷的考验则等待在毕业的时候一一找不到工作通常即意味着要回到农村,意味着所有的前功尽弃。
Shanghai. The higher education has been industrialized during the Education Reform. More and more high school graduates may go to college while more farmer families seem to trap themselves in financial squeeze in order to support the expensive tuition fees of their children. Furthermore, these young college graduates have to face ruthless reality of hunting for a job in a ferocious competitive market. No job found in the city means going back to the countryside, then all their previous efforts wasted.
某省解放军驻地。很多农村出身的孩子来到部队。家庭不用再为他们支付任何费用,相反,他们还可以得到士兵津贴。比起城里的孩子,来自农村的士兵更能承受艰苦的训练。进入部队往往只是目标的一部分,改变命运才是更迫切的愿望。
PLA garrison in a Province. Many young farmers joined army, so their families no longer have to support them financially; on the contrary, they will receive soldier allowances. Comparing with young men from cities, these rural kids can stand for tough drills better. Becoming a solider is merely one of the options for a farmer to move to a different status, their ultimate goal is to change their own destiny.
河南洛阳某乡。这里已不见年轻人的踪影,驻守在家的是“六一三八九九部队”。适逢收割时节,却遇到了严重的干旱,早熟的麦子戳在地里没有一点生机。执著的只有收割机的轰鸣声,它在提示着人们,这是收获的日子,租赁收割机的费用应该已经准备好了……。从城里赶回来帮忙的年轻人已经又匆匆地离去了,留下老人对着镜头在独自倾诉。
One village in Luoyang, Henan Province. All young farmers have left for working in other cities; only children, women and elder people are still living here. A serious drought happened in the harvest time of wheat, early wheat in the land have little vitality. The tireless rumble of reaping machine is reminding these poor farmers not to forget to prepare money for renting the machine. Young people returning from cities for temporary harvest assistance have left hastily again. Only an elder is talking solitarily to the camera.
农,是中国赖以生存的根基。如今,从前在农村从事农业的农民们,已经像伞一样被撑开,覆盖在中国所有经济最活跃的脉搏上。
Farming has been the key means of subsistence for the Chinese since history. Nowadays, those farmers used to engage in farming have moved to the unfamiliar frontier of their life, across the whole country, covering over the basis of flourishing economic activities just like an open umbrella provides shelter for this large piece of land.