Drink the water of the Yangtze River
A Closer Look at China
Meet again on the Yangtze River
In 2011, Japanese director Ryo Takeuchi completed a 6,300-kilometer journey to the Yangtze River and filmed "The Great Chronicle of the Yangtze River", allowing the world to see the real Chinese Yangtze River and the customs along the way. Ten years later, Ryo Takeuchi revisited the Yangtze River Road, reuniting with his old friends from the past filming along the way. In his lens, both the beautiful scenery of the mountains and rivers along the Yangtze River and the lives of people have undergone earth-shaking changes.
During a trip to the Yangtze River ten years ago, a 17-year-old Tibetan girl from Shangri-La named Cimu left a deep impression on Ryo Takeuchi and the audience. Holding a little lamb in her arms, she timidly struggled to solicit a photo for 5 yuan of business. Ten years later, how has Csim's life changed, and what would it be like for her to be invited to Nanjing to reunite with Ryo Takeuchi? This issue of "A Closer Look at China" takes you to meet the Yangtze River again.
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Jiujiang is looking for people, is he still there?
In 2022, Ryo Takeuchi came to Jiujiang, Jiangxi, and he was looking forward to meeting Wu Zeshui, an old man who used to live in Jiangxinzhou.
This is a scene taken by Ryo Takeuchi in 2011 on Exinzhou. Wu Zeshui's village was once flooded, and there was no water or electricity in the village, and most of the villagers had moved away. But Lao Wu refused the children's requests to move many times, simply because he was used to washing rice with the water of the Yangtze River and did not want to leave the home he was used to. 10 years have passed, how is Lao Wu doing now?
The environment around Jiangxinzhou has changed a lot, and the old houses around it have also been demolished, making it difficult to identify the past directions. Just when the search was in trouble, Ryo Takeuchi met a local villager, and this person turned out to be Wu Zeshui's younger brother.
Ryo Takeuchi asks Wu Zeshui's younger brother for directions
Unfortunately, in the end, Ryo Takeuchi did not reunite with his deceased person, because Lao Wu and his wife have passed away. The continent where Lao Wu once lived has now become an uninhabited island, but on the other side, the adjacent Dajiangxinzhou, development and construction are in full swing.
In the past, Lao Wu's home did not even have electricity, but now countless wind turbines have been built in Dajiang Xinzhou, and a beach has been built on the shore. Ryo Takeuchi came to the beach in the heart of the river and picked up a handful of Yangtze River water, and he found that the water quality here was much better than in the past.
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The life-changing Csim
Ten years ago and ten years later, Cimu and Ryo Takeuchi
On the journey of the Yangtze River, regrets and surprises always coexist. Some people left, while others lived a new life.
In May 2022, when Ryo Takeuchi revisited Shangri-La, he was warmly welcomed by a Tibetan girl, Tsem. The once cowardly and inferior Zim is gone, and when we meet again, she is already a confident and independent woman, and she also runs a homestay of her own.
Ten years ago, all the wishes that Tsam wrote in a letter to Ryo Takeuchi's film crew came true.
Zim: "'Please help me spread the word,' and that came true. ”
Ryo Takeuchi: "It's amazing that it came true. ”
After a trip to Shanghai more than ten years ago, Csim found a new direction in life and lived a wonderful life. More than 10 years later, Ryo Takeuchi invited Cimu to visit Nanjing, where he had settled.
The 1968 Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge was China's first domestically built bridge, and it was here that CM's trip to Nanjing began.
Ryo Takeuchi took Cimu to feel the water of the Yangtze River in Nanjing, and he told Cimu that the water from Shangri-La would definitely flow here.
Ryo Takeuchi: "The water of the Zhongdian River that we went to photograph will definitely come here." ”
Zim: "It's unimaginable. ”
Although Nanjing and Shangri-La are both cities on the Yangtze River, the scenery is very different. Looking at the Yangtze River and the cityscape of Nanjing, he was shocked by the magnificent scene in front of him, and Ryo Takeuchi once had this feeling.
Ryo Takeuchi: "The first time I saw the Yangtze River here, I was amazed at how vast and magnificent it is, and it's unbelievable that I was able to drive my own car and take my friends around the city 10 years ago. ”
There is also a very important task for Csim to come to Nanjing, which is to see and learn more in different styles of homestays. Ryo Takeuchi took Tsam to a guesthouse located in Laomendong. After arriving here, Cimu turned on the immersive patting mode, and was completely fascinated, and he couldn't even hear Ryo Takeuchi speak......
There's a wedding going on here, and it's a new experience for Cimu, who has never been exposed to Han weddings, and Cimu wants to experience it up close......
During the time spent sightseeing with Tim, Ryo Takeuchi thought of what he looked like when he first came to Nanjing, and every day was full of freshness and excitement. In 2013, he settled in Nanjing, and now the novelty is long gone, replaced by a sense of reassurance. Here, he can be his true self, and he realizes that for him, Nanjing has become a second home.
After the end of the trip to meet the Yangtze River, his friend Yang Lin asked Ryo Takeuchi, who had been asking questions to others, why did he get along so well with Chinese? How would Ryo Takeuchi answer?
As the only Japanese who has walked the Yangtze River Road twice, how does Ryo Takeuchi evaluate the Yangtze River and China he has seen?
For more exciting content, please pay attention to the program "A Closer Look at China" broadcast at 22:00 this Sunday night.
Producer: Zhang Xiaoling
Adaptation: Li Jie
Editor: Yu Erya