Last Train Home (Gui tu lie che) (归途列车)

There are over 130 million migrant workers in China.

They go home only once a year, during Chinese New Year.

This is the world's largest human migration.

LAST TRAIN HOME

A film by Lixin Fan

Winter 2006

Guangzhou, Guangdong Province

Go rest, I can do this.

-Finished? -Yes.

There won't be any tickets at the station.

Are you sure?

Well, you might find standing room tickets.

Of course I'm right.

They all sell the same tickets.

Make sure to check the refund ticket booth.

We'll have to wait until the holiday starts before looking for tickets.

-It will be too late then. -We don't have a choice.

Did you get your report card?

-Yes I did. -Did you do well?

So-so.

So-so? You have to keep studying hard.

We didn't get tickets yet. It will take a few more days.

I'll call you when we get the tickets.

Qin?

Qin, are you there?

Qin?

Tickets for the next two days are sold out. You should ask at other centers.

They may still have tickets for sale.

Did you get them?

Did you inquire about all the trains?

Nothing left? What do we do now?

We have been trying for a week now.

The kids keep asking when we will get home.

The New Year is a few days away.

Tomorrow is the tenth. There are only five days left.

Add on two days onboard the train...

We won't make it home in time if we don't get tickets now.

It's harder to get tickets this year.

We'll have to try and buy expensive tickets now.

It's difficult to buy tickets anywhere.

I will be happy to see my kids. I've been away for far too long.

When we are home...

we don't even know what to say to the kids.

Huilong Village, Sichuan Province

2100 kilometers northwest of Guangzhou

In our village, only the elderly stay at home.

Almost all the young people have left.

They leave to find work.

I started high school last year.

Dropouts who work in the factories always come home for the New Year.

So now...

...some of my classmates are still in school, but most have left.

You should eat more meat.

You need to make a study plan.

List out how many assignments you have...

...and see what you need to complete each day.

Eat more and you will walk faster.

But fat people can't walk fast.

Attention passengers, tickets for this week are all sold out.

Please stop lining up at the ticket booths,

and seek alternative means of transportation.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Returned Ticket Booth

Two tickets cost 262 yuan.

Finally we have them.

Keep moving. Why are we stuck?

Oh no! There is no room for our luggage!

There are no racks for our bags.

Be careful, It will fall.

Someone might get hurt.

We were so eager to leave home sixteen years ago.

We wanted to get on the train and go...

...find a good job and make money.

We were very poor when we left home in the 90's.

On the day we left, my mom held my baby.

Qin was only one year old. I was crying when I left.

I didn't want to leave her but I had no choice.

The last time I held Qin was at my mother's place.

They all said I should stay home until Qin grew a little older.

I didn't say a word.

I hardened my heart and left with my husband.

I had no choice. That's life.

Every time I received a letter from home, I would cry.

I always cried.

Every time I received a letter from my father.

I would cry and I couldn't eat anything.

I would have to eat before reading a letter from home.

Otherwise I couldn't eat anything.

-When did you guys get back? -A few days ago.

Yang!

Qin!

Daddy!

-Where is your brother? -He's playing.

Cool phone!

Do you have games on it?

-The phone is for your sister. -I want to play first.

-Qin, do you like it? -I like it.

Thanks, dad.

Everyone worked so hard.

-I will listen to you, grandma. -Thank you for looking after us.

I hope you all study hard.

Look at your uncle. He went to university and left the farm.

You have to do better than him.

Your parents should benefit from your success.

Yang is a good boy.

You only placed fifth in your class. Last year you placed third.

-Sixth or Fifth? -Fifth!

I just have one wish: Qin and Yang will study hard.

Just that one wish.

We never complain, no matter how hard it is.

Don't cry, mom.

Dad works far away from home. I can only speak to you on the phone.

Dad doesn't have as high an education as you.

There are things I don't know how to tell you.

I hope both of you study hard.

So you succeed when you grow up.

There is nothing more that I can do.

Except for making money to support you.

You should avoid anything that will harm your study.

Come help me carry this.

-Let me carry this. -I'll lift it up for you.

-Be careful. -Yes.

We had a hard life back then.

But who doesn't want their children to live a good life?

One can only leave the countryside if they study hard.

Life was tough back then. We never had enough eat.

We had holes in our clothes.

At that time, I wanted to leave the countryside.

But the country needed farm labor.

School children like me were asked to stay on the farm.

We were called to support the agriculture.

Otherwise, I would not have stayed here.

Grandpa...

I'm doing well.

I just don't want to see mom and dad.

We don't get along.

You must know.

I may not come to see you for a long time.

I will ask little brother to burn spirit money for you.

While I'm away, visit Grandpa's grave for me.

I won't come back often and I don't want to.

This is a sad place.

Eat your bitter melons, Yang. So you won't get pimples.

-Really? -Yes, bitter melon is good for you.

-I'll have a little. -Eat more.

Taste the bitterness first, the sweetness will follow.

And then you will know which is better.

Why don't the mosquitoes bite you?

Of course they don't bite me.

That's because she is not dirty.

They do not bite me for I have been a hardworking woman.

Yang will buy us a big house in the city one day.

There are still mosquitoes.

Xintang City, Guangdong Province

A good friend of mine worked here.

She told me the factory was recruiting and asked me to come.

That's how I got here.

I thought it would be good to work in a factory.

But I can't really get used to it here.

And I have no other friends besides her.

Is life good here?

After all, freedom is happiness.

I'm so worried.

I'd rather work harder than have Qin drop out of school.

These are for export.

Some jeans are huge. You can fit two people in them.

The waistline is 40 inches.

Have you ever seen a Chinese with a 40 inch wasteline?

Foreigners with wastelines this huge.

-Americans are fat. -Fat and tall so they need big pants.

I just had my dinner.

-You're worried you'll get fat. -You need to eat more.

But I'm afraid of getting fat.

-Don't worry, you won't. -What if I do?

The supervisor joked with us today.

He asked the workers who hasn't had their first kiss?

What kind of question is that?

If I was there I would say...

You lost it a long time ago.

Don't be afraid of the supervisor. Take it easy.

He will yell at me again.

I came here to work when I was 15

I send all the money I make back home.

Work is tiring but you make your own money.

When you're at school you ask your parents for money.

School was like a cage. You couldn't go any where.

Work is tiring, but that doesn't mean you don't want to work.

It's painful, but still better than being at school.

You think you are the only one who needs to work?

Do you think we are sleeping during working hours?

When I read, I get dizzy. The words just turn to a blank page.

-I get angry thinking about the supervisor. -Forget about him.

-Me? -I'm not telling you.

Leave one factory to end up in another.

You are going to open your own business.

-What about the cost? -Let's just roam around the world.

It fits you well.

Do you think these were made in our factory?

No, they are a different brand.

We can't find our brand anywhere.