Original subtitles

(soft music) (train hooting)

(train engine revving)

As if a model train had come to life

in the forefront bellies of Sichuan

life follows its own rhythm,

somewhat more relaxed than elsewhere in China.

(soft music) (train engine revving)

A little steam train is the only means of transportation

for the people around here.

It's whistling, echoes through the ravines.

There is no route here.

Anyone wanting to go to the market or just visit

the next Valley has to either walk or take the train.

(train engine revving)

Steep rock walls, rice terraces, hills and rivers.

The little train fights its way over ascending slopes

and back downhill around bans and through tunnels,

skinning past the houses and right through the town.

(train engine revving) (soft music)

It's narrow gauge railway tracks

are ideal for this impassable terrain here in Sichuan,

in the heart of China, South of the mega city, Chengdu.

The train route isn't very long

but this approximately 20 kilometer stretch of railway track

is the only connection to the outside world

for the residents of the scattered villages.

(train hooting)

The little train always has right of way.

(train engine revving)

Whoever misses it has to drive over the railway tracks

by motor bike, without a helmet of course,

this way, it's easier to listen to the radio.

The railway track is the main route for pedestrians too,

because it is the only way to get

through the forests and mountains.

There is good reason for the train's constant whistling.

(soft music)

The train driver, Huáng She-Bin, starts his shift.

"Go to work with joy and return in good health"

is written on the entrance of the train depot.

Huáng signs in for his shift.

His colleague has already finished,

he has heated up the engines that are about to be used.

(soft music)

Seven steam trains are constantly in operation.

Even the switching moves at the Shixi station

are powered by steam.

Huáng She-Bin has to examine the locomotives

thoroughly before departure.

He completes an inspection round before every trip,

as the trains are old and consists mainly of spare parts.

(men speaking in foreign language)

There's always something broken.

I have to re-tighten the screws.

(men speaking in foreign language)

(water pouring)

A vast amount of water is required

to produce steam.

Locomotive number 16 is flooded for minutes.

(speaking in foreign language)

This job wasn't my childhood dream.

They were looking for train drivers and I applied.

The work is quite hard.

Huáng is going to drive the route twice today.

(speaking in foreign language)

We have a great responsibility

as drivers, if an accident occurs,

they deduct the cost from our salaries.

We have to be very attentive as we don't want anyone

to be injured.

(door opens) (coal clatters)

Huáng She-Bin used to be a postman.

He was trained for three months before he was allowed

to take on sole responsibility as a train driver

on China's last year round, regularly scheduled

passenger steam train.

(whistle blowing) (soft music)

A particularly large crowd gathers on market day

in Chongqing, at the Northern end of the terminal.

The simple carriages are already full

half an hour before departure.

The farmers bring back their shopping goods

to the villages of the Valley.

Supplies, vegetables, live chickens and passengers,

everything is squeezed in and skillfully stacked.

(whistle blowing) (train horn hooting)

Huáng will be driving back and forth along the route

for two and a half hours.

During the rapeseed flowering season and spring,

the landscape looks as if a model maker had tipped over

a tin of yellow paint.

(train engine revving)

Rice terraces, bamboo groves and banana trees,

flourish between the rapeseed fields.

(speaking in foreign language)

(soft music)

In Zhujiajiao, people have a lot of time.

(soft music)

Zhou Ping the butcher, has already been waiting

for two hours, together with his colleague

he wants to transport pigs to Bajiaogou.

Finally the animals arrive,

(soft music) (train engine revving)

and so does the train one hour later.

(train engine revving)

There are no separate carriages for the animals.

(pigs grunting)

A separate compartment is created in the passenger carriage

with the help of a gate.

(gate closes)

(speaking in foreign language)

We bought these pigs

from the local farmers were taking them to Bajiaogou now.

No glass in the windows, simple wooden benches,

bare metal walls and occasionally pigs in the carriage.

The little train is not really comfortable.

The pigs are going to be slaughtered in Bajiaogou,

their meat will be sold on the market.

Whoever comes from the Valley to shop there

will be traveling with Huáng or one of his colleagues.

A regional commodity cycle powered by steam.

(train engine revving)

Mountain bikes, furniture, livestock,

the little train is indispensable in this Valley.

For the pigs, the journey continues at breakneck speed.

Bajiaogou is the second to last stop for the train,

but for the animals, it is literally the end of the line.

Xin Ping, drives them forward with a bamboo stick.

At the town square chairman Mao

is emblazoned above the propaganda stage

that dates back to the cultural revolution.

(soft music)

Bajiaogou means banana forest,

an enchanting place almost frozen in time.

Not long ago in the 1940s,

this little shopping street built

by an Anglo-Chinese mining company

used to house opium dens and brothels.

Today, the little town seems like an open air museum

representing traditional China.

(dog barking) (cock crows)

In the Hills above Bajiaogou peasants live as they have done

for centuries, growing rice and vegetables

from every available piece of land.

(soft music)

It's early morning and Wong Qishan has already harvested.

(soft music) (cock crows)

Peasant woman Wong, runs the farm with her husband.

Their daughter is already grown up.

She wants to sell her vegetables at Zhuhai market,

the basket can weigh up to 20 kilos when it's fully loaded.

It takes her more than half an hour

to walk down the hill to the train station.

(soft music)

The dainty Wong balances the basket effortlessly

as she weaves her way along the clay walls

of the Patty fields. This, is her regular commute.

There is a little daily market in Bajiaogou,

but once a week, peasant woman Wong also sells her goods

at the big market in Zhuhai,

which can only be reached by train.

The Bajiaogou train station has recently been renovated.

(people chanting) (speaking in foreign language)

[Female Translator] For the little luck

I get 51 for my chods.

Wong needs to sell all the vegetables

in her basket today,

otherwise the journey to Zhuhai is not profitable.

A one-way ticket costs her five yuan approximately 60 cents.

(train engine revving)

The tickets can be bought directly from the conductor.

(speaking in foreign language)

[Female Translator] I take the train to Zhuhai

four times a month, I also shop there myself.

Mostly seedlings.

It takes Wong a little over one hour

to get to Zhuhai, while more and more farmers

squeeze into the carriages at every station.

The engine house is also located

in the market town of Zhuhai.

The locomotives need constant repair and maintenance,

bolting, welding, hammering.

Morning meeting for the engine house team.

The foreman explains what tasks need to be done today.

(speaking in foreign language)

Lu Chun Li is a mechanic toolmaker and engine fitter.

One has to be a Jack of all trades around here.

(tools clattering) (speaking in foreign language)

[Female translator] I make spare parts.

Lu Chun Li's inspections are as sharp

as her cutting tools. (speaking in foreign language)

[Female translator] This is going to be a bolt

of the locomotive's control rod.

I have to finish four of these today.

The little train is the last steam train

so you can't buy the spare parts anymore.

That's why we make them ourselves, it's cheaper as well.

Mechanic HiChoon,

is going to put the part to the test.

Do Chun Li's bolts fit precisely?

These connecting parts transfer the whole power

of the steam engine to the wheels.

Chun Li's parts fit perfectly.

The locomotives were built specially

for the unique requirements of this route.

Four pairs of little wheels lie close together.

Schweitzer Gung is responsible for safety,

he knows all the weak spots of the old train inside out

and is aware of the parts that need double-checking.

(speaking in foreign language)

The short trains are good

for this route.

A regular train would be more than 70 meters long.

The locomotive alone is more than 20 meters long.

You wouldn't be able to drive around the bends very well.

Our locomotives are only 14 meters long,

they don't have any trouble with the narrow bends.

For decades the building plans

were considered lost and when the files reappeared,

no one recognized their value.

The president of the mining company

is still angry about it today.

(speaking in foreign language)

Five years ago,

a professor at China's mining and technology University

found the files in a Taiwanese Nyberg.

He called us to ask if we wanted a copy,

unfortunately at the time we thought we didn't need them.

(train engine revving)

Over the years almost every single component

of the locomotives has been replaced at some point.

Today's locomotives are masterpieces of metal fitting,

pieced together from spare parts made individually by hand,

mostly without an exact design.

Right next to the engine house lies the market of Zhuhai,

the biggest one in this region.

The moon calendar determines the market days,

it takes place about nine times a month.

(upbeat music)

Peasant woman Wong is late. The train was late.

All the good selling spots are taken already.

She squeezes in between motorbikes

in front of a newly opened store.

Nevertheless, she doesn't have to wait long

for the first customer, a good omen for the day.

(upbeat music) (people chanting)

At Zhuhai market, you can buy anything

that might be considered a feast for Chinese pallets.

However, more likely to be an acquired taste

for most Westerners.

A special breed is much sought after at the poultry stall,

black chickens, jet black after plucking to be more precise.

(upbeat music)

Charlatans, hairdressers, miracle workers

and fortune tellers.

They have arranged their camping tables

on the outskirts of the market.

For a few yuan you can hear what your future holds.

Xing Fu Gaho is blind in one eye,

a sure sign of competence for fortune tellers.

(speaking in foreign language)

I can see it clearly now.

Young mothers particularly enjoy

the consultation.

(speaking in foreign language)

Your boy is going to accomplish a lot.

He was born this year at one o'clock in the morning

on the 13th of the first moon calendar.

Belithan omens, lucky charms and fortune tellers

is very normal in China. Many live their lives accordingly.

(speaking in foreign language)

[Female Translator] He told me that my son doesn't have

a patron God yet. Usually newborns have a patron God.

We must find one now. I think this would be good for him.

(speaking in foreign language)

Everything is based on a principle

of yin and yang.

There are 10 heavenly stems and 12 earthly branches.

According to this system and together with the best dates,

I can foretell the future.

Lu Chun Li,

the mechanic from the engine house nearby

is also at the market.

She wants to buy pork legs for the team of mechanics.

(speaking in foreign language) (people chanting)

Lu examines the butchers displays

with the scene-close inspection she uses to check her bolts.

She only makes a bid at the third stall.

(speaking in foreign language)

Chun Li is going to prepare a very special dish,

knuckle of pork, locomotive style so to speak.

A hot pot meal in the truest sense of the word,

it goes like this, you take a steam locomotive,

preheat it to seven or 800 degrees.

(speaking in foreign language)

Open the oven, place the pork on top of the blazing embers

with a tong and wait a few minutes.

Locomotive driver Yang Yuan swears

by the unique smoked aroma of this dish.

(speaking in foreign language)

Five to seven minutes in the oven,

then the pork knuckle tastes much better.

We often make it in winter,

afterwards it also gets cooked for awhile.

The mechanics have welded themselves

a little oven so they can cook the meat.

Conveniently enough, there is hot coal

on every train that arrives.

The thick layer of black suit is scraped off of course

but the special locomotive aroma remains in the meat.

Chun Li cuts the pork into pieces before she cooks it.

(speaking in foreign language)

[Female translator] This pork dish

out of the locomotive oven is so popular in winter

because it gives you strength.

The skin gets a very special taste

from burning it in the oven.

Now the meat will get cooked for another hour.

Altogether it takes about two hours

until the dish is ready to be served.

(speaking in foreign language)

The cooking happens right in the middle

of the engine house.

It was built for steam trains,

so a little smoke is really not a problem.

(soup pouring)

The special flavor enhancer is so strong

that no other spices are necessary.

(speaking in foreign language)

The employees of the engine house

don't need to be asked twice

and eat the hot pot meal with visible appetite.

(speaking in foreign language)

(train engine revving) (soft music)

Steady companions of the little train, the coal collectors.

When the locomotive throws out ashes from time to time,

there is always a lot of coal in it

that hasn't finished burning yet.

A valuable resource for heating and cooking.

Not a single small piece gets lost.

(soft music) (speaking in foreign language)

The little train has to conquer 108 bends

and climb 238 meters in altitude.

The difficult terrain is also the main reason

why there is still no road connecting the villages

to this day and even the school can only be reached

on foot, by motorbike or by train.

(soft music)

When the children at the school of Sahiba read out loud,

it echoes through the whole Valley.

(children's voices echoing)

There are six classes here.

The primary school is responsible for all the children

from the villages within a wide radius around here.

Jinja Hui is 11, like all the children here,

she is hardworking, disciplined, and hungry for knowledge.

Their teacher's name is Ms. Payne.

(speaking in foreign language)

[Female translator] I live in Bajiaogou,

every morning I take the train to school

on the way back, I have to walk.

Most of the children have to walk too,

walk very far.

The train doesn't come as often as it used to

and the schedule is inconvenient.

Therefore many of the students

have to walk up to two hours, one way.

(speaking in foreign language)

[Female translator] This is really hard for the children,

especially in the summer, then they often get soaking wet.

When the sun is scorching and it gets very hot around here,

it's hard and dangerous, it's really not easy for the kids.

(speaking in foreign language)

School is out in the early afternoon.

A few children are picked up with a moped-head,

but for most of them, a long walk begins.

Jinja Hui is on her own.

(soft music)

Two hours to the furthest station

with worn out shoes over the railway tracks every day,

no matter what the weather is like,

she has to pass through four tunnels.

(motorbike engine revving)

She knows the train schedule by heart

but some trains come unannounced.

(train engine revving)

[Female translator] I walk through them all on my own.

(train engine revving) (horn hooting)

A security guard is positioned

in front of the longest tunnel.

Here you can't see the other end of the tunnel at first.

(speaking in foreign language)

It's my task not to let anyone

into the tunnel when a train is about to arrive.

I'm in charge of security.

(train engine revving)

(speaking in foreign language)

[Female translator] At first I was very scared

to enter the tunnel.

I get up so early that it's still dark outside.

I was scared to fall over.

(water pouring)

The torchlight is an essential item

in her school bag.

Jinja Hui lives literally only an arm's length away

from the railway tracks and the train to school

drives right past her house,

unfortunately, not at the right time.

The soot of the steam train blackens the kitchen walls.

After her long march Jinja Hui gets a bowl of rice first,

and then there's homework to be done.

(speaking in foreign language)

[Female translator] Everyday after school,

I have to do one to two pages of homework.

I think I need about a half an hour for that.

(speaking in foreign language)

(soft music)

A few hundred meters behind Ja Hui's house

an old mine head tower, reminds one

of the beginnings of the little train.

The coal mine of Huangcunjing was closed long ago.

Nevertheless for Mao was great leap forward.

The forced industrialization of the country

at the end of the 1950s, steel and coal

were needed in vast amounts.

Railway tracks were built to transport the coal

irrespective of the terrain.

The little train started out as a coal transporter.

(train horn hooting)

At the other end of the line, in Shixi,

coal train still exist today.

Now they run on electricity and serve another mine,

for Lee Cha Chan, it was heavy labor

to build the railway tracks for the steam train.

(speaking in foreign language)

We build all this with pure manpower.

Machines didn't exist with modern machine really

railway tracks could have been built much faster of course.

For every little section, hundreds of workers were needed.

We had to carry the railway sleepers on our shoulders

and screwed them together by hand.

(speaking in foreign language)

We slept on simple beds made of rice straw,

sometimes under roofs made of banana leaves,

sometimes at farmers' houses.

They kept their pigs next to us.

Many just slept outside in the open air

with only a blanket to cover them.

That's how it used to be back then.

Actually, we were quite content with that.

(speaking in foreign language)

Lee Cha Chan is completely content

with his life, although most of it consisted of heavy labor.

When the railway track was finished

he went underground to mine.

(speaking in foreign language)

When we build the tracks,

everyone was given 200 grams of rice each day

and a little something on the side,

mostly cabbage soup with cooked radish

or radish soup with cooked cabbage.

We were really starving sometimes we went

and looked for wild herbs or grasses during our breaks.

That was very different compared to today,

where no one has to starve anymore.

The railway track is just a stone's throw away,

the track section for which he worked

almost to complete exhaustion lies shortly before Bajiaogou,

only one hour away by steam train.

Maybe it is due to the experience

of life-threatening hunger for years,

although he lives in a modern flat in the city,

Lee Cha Chan still stocks food

and keeps live chickens in his bedroom.

(speaking in foreign language)

No, I never went back there, not once.

If I think of Bajiaogou,

then I have to think of the very hard work we had to do.

I remember every hill slope and every house.

Well, it's not far from here.

I could just take the little train

but I've gone through too much down there,

no, I don't even want to go there again.

The construction of the railway tracks

happened at the time of Mao's great leap forward.

Industrialization without consideration of possible damage

followed by the longest period of starvation in history.

Building the line with a narrow gauge rail tracks

into the impassable train costs many lives.

Already in 1959,

the first locomotive was sent on its journey.

(speaking in foreign language)

When I dare to do the very first journey

in this newly built route,

it took me three days to complete 20 kilometers,

three days, I slept under a locomotive,

I was simply too scared to drive faster.

The track was awful and too soft, it jolted terribly.

(speaking in foreign language)

Today, Chan lives down by the river.

He used to drive the coal loads here for shipping,

back then his mother starved to death

right in front of his eyes.

He was only saved by the scraps of food

they got from the mining company.

The local people feel such a strong attachment

to the little train as a result

of the extremely hard times they endured.

(speaking in foreign language)

My love for the little train

will never die.

It was very hard work and very, very hot.

Some locomotive drivers were discouraged by that,

I wasn't, the little train will always have a special place

in my heart.

Sometimes I still dream of standing in the locomotive

and driving the train.

I dreamt that only two days ago,

I prepared everything and started the engine.

Today, the students of my students drive the train

and they still know who I am.

When I visit the engine house, they say,

"Master may I have a photo taken with you?"

Today, the dramas of the past are partly taboo

and partly entertainment,

for the slowly growing domestic tourism.

On the weekends Bajiaogou is hardly recognizable anymore,

crowds of visitors.

The red army uniforms are sold to the beat of techno music.

Bajiaogou is the first town in the valley

to have road access, even if only for special tourist buses.

Mao's slogans are nothing more than a nice backdrop

for food or for modern Chinese people.

Guided groups travel on the same route

as the locals usually do,

but in much more comfortable carriages

complete with glass windows and air conditioning.

(train attendant speaking over radio)

The tickets for these trains

are exorbitant for the residents of the Valley.

An urban and wealthy public,

examines traditional rural life with curiosity,

two different worlds meet.

(speaking in foreign language)

Whether for tourist groups or rice farmers,

the route is the same only the stops differ.

The farmers don't need to stop for photos.

Train driver Huáng She-Bin knows,

without the revenue from the relatively new tourist trains,

the little train would be bankrupt already.

It was seen as uneconomical and was due to be closed down.

(speaking in foreign language)

The train fare was very low

and in the 90's the company suffered

a multi-million Yuan loss.

Phenergan is the president

of the mining company and hence also of the steam train.

Its end was already decided

but the residents of the Valley fought for their train.

(speaking in foreign language)

The company had already planned

to replace the railway with a road,

so that more public buses could operate.

That would solve the problem of public transportation.

We already had funds for the plan, but it raised conflicts.

Economically, keeping the train running made no sense.

It would make us suffer huge losses.

If a company only performs its social function

it won't survive,

but we found out that we could make a profit,

if we first invest in the train.

(speaking in foreign language)

For the locals,

the train was always more than just

a means of transportation, it is part of their lives.

(speaking in foreign language)

[Female translator] I grew up with the little train

Bajiaogou, when we heard its whistling as children,

we all run to the big square and yelled,

"The train is here." (laughing) And we were happy.

Chung Lee runs a little hotel,

the first one in the Valley,

with a toilet and internet access,

luxuries that didn't exist in this region a few years ago.

Chung Lee hopes to be able to live off the income

from her guests one day.

The residents of Bajiaogou

like to meet at their Mahjong tables.

Mahjong is played constantly and with great enthusiasm.

(speaking in foreign language)

And such a practical tidy mechanism,

perfect order at the push of a button.

(speaking in foreign language)

[Female translator] The little train was always

like a friend to me.

In my mind it was my companion.

My parents could never afford to buy a lot of toys.

We were always very poor, so the little train was my toy.

(speaking in foreign language)

Chung Lee is extraordinarily happy

about the rain today because tomorrow is Qingming,

the festival for the dead.

This is when the people commemorate their ancestors

and it is a good sign when the sky cries before the start.

All the trinkets that the people need

to commemorate their ancestors are sold on every street.

Primarily money for the other world,

laboriously cut out handmade notes from bamboo fibers

or a common currency in the afterworld

and very important, loud fireworks.

The Chinese dead, love noise

on top of that more paper money with fantastical Psalms

and incense sticks.

(speaking in foreign language)

Chung Lee has got everything she needs.

Tomorrow she wants to visit her father's grave

in the mountains above Bajiaogou.

Wong Qishan, the peasant woman is already there

up in the mountains of Bajiaogou.

(soft music) (goat bleating)

She is back from the market

and was able to sell all of her vegetables.

Wong did some shopping herself too.

The most important ingredient

of the notorious Szechwan cuisine, chili seedlings.

Here in Sichuan, hands full of chili

are thrown into the dishes

and they grow very well in Wong's garden.

(soft music)

(speaking in foreign language)

[Female translator] I can harvest them in about two months

and then I'll sell them again.

(speaking in foreign language)

Wong's husband is heating up the oven

with bamboo wood.

(soft music)

A strange thing hangs above the stove with its huge walks.

It looks like a mummified bird.

(speaking in foreign language)

[Female translator] I need such a big walk

because I also cook the food for the pigs in here.

We used to have more than 10 pigs, today there are only two.

So what do you do with a strange bird,

dangling above the stove?

(utensils clattering)

(speaking in foreign language)

[Female translator] When you eat it,

it used to be that big.

(cooking stick stirring)

(speaking in foreign language)

We salted it and smoked it, that way it keeps longer.

You can either cook it with soy sauce or steam it.

I serve it with some great yellow crasp

and asparagus salad.

Not something to ward off evil just dried meat.

Wong and her husband are self-sufficient with their chickens

and two pigs, some geese, goats and their vegetables.

(soft music)

The ravines of Bajiaogou looked like a prehistoric,

primordial landscape with Fern trees

where once dinosaurs may have grazed on their leaves.

For generations, the dead had been buried

in this dramatic landscape

in rock raves carved right into the stone.

Chung Lee, the hotel owner,

wants to visit her father's grave.

He died young when she was only a child.

His earn is carved into the rocks high above Bajiaogou.

The ascent takes almost an hour. There are no paths.

(speaking in foreign language)

[Female translator] We all use the paper money

around here. (speaking in foreign language)

I will hang up these paper flags first though,

as a sign that I visited my ancestors.

(speaking in foreign language)

Sweeping the grave,

is how the Chinese also call this annual ritual.

More important than the cleaning however,

is pleasing the dead with paper money, incense,

noises and prayers.

(speaking in foreign language)

[Female translator] This is how we show our respect

and gratitude to our parents, they raised us after all.

In the past, my brother and sister-in-law

used to take me here every year.

Now I'm grown up and come here on my own.

Well, now I'll send up some money to my father.

The afterworld money made from bamboo fibers

passes into the other world in the form of smoke.

At the end of the ritual, the fireworks.

The special salutes echo through

the Valley often these days.

(fireworks crackling)

The market of Shaxi is closing now

and a certain calm is restored in the little town.

(soft music) (people chanting)

On every corner, in every teahouse people play Mahjong

or Sichuan poker.

(soft music) (people chanting)

The card game is supposed to be more than 2000 years old,

and the people of Sichuan proudly claim

to be the most enthusiastic Mahjong and card players

in the whole of China.

(soft music)

Also in the healing center at the outskirts of the market,

the people play Sichuan poker.

In the back room, all kinds of pains are healed

according to the principles of traditional Chinese medicine

with acupuncture and fire cupping.

(speaking in foreign language)

If you don't feel well this will help,

with anything also against the cold.

(speaking in foreign language)

Those who work hard for years

feel especially worn out.

No wonder that the locomotive drivers of the little train

trust in the traditional Chinese art of healing.

The train drivers come to me very often.

They come two or three times a month for treatment.

Chen Cheng Lee,

the very first locomotive driver,

very rarely comes into town.

Together with Li Sha Chung, the track worker,

he pays the new tourist train station a visit.

It is amazing for the elderly man to see what has been made

of the little coal train,

that influenced their lives so immensely.

Li Sha Chung is curious to know what the tourists pay

for a trip on this railway tracks,

which he built with his bare hands.

There are combined tickets for a train ride

and an underground mining experience.

[Female translator] These are the tickets we have.

(speaking in foreign language)

How much is a return ticket?

(speaking in foreign language)

150 Yuan, which is about $25.

Lee wouldn't be able to afford that,

but he doesn't wanna go back underground to the mine

where he had to work so hard.

He would much rather have Chun show him a locomotive.

(speaking in foreign language)

I heard his name Master San

all the time, but I never met him until now.

He drove the train over ground.

I mined coal underground. So, how could we have met?

Today, with all his passion and enthusiasm

he showed me how to drive the train,

where to put the water and told me about accidents

that occurred, how to operate the train.

I never experienced anything like today.

I had never been inside the cab before.

I had only been on the carriages.

I want to have you as my master,

will you teach me as your train driving student?

I promise to be a diligent pupil.

(both laughing) (upbeat music)

The last train for today makes its way,

at the depot of Shaxi repairs continue as always.

They are working nonstop on the ramshackle locomotives

which need maintenance after almost every trip,

whether it is bolting, welding, or hammering.

(soft music)

Huáng She-Bin has finished two trips with the little train

and needs to do some switching still.

(tools clattering)

If he throws out ashes,

the cool collectors are right at hand

and won't let a single little piece

of usable heating material get lost.

End of shift.

I'm always happy when I'm back safely nothing has happened.

Depending on the shift, I then either drive home

to my family or I sleep here.

Over there is a residential home for the drivers

where I have a room.

The residential home,

simple sleeping accommodation for the train drivers

on three floors.

This dates back to the coal rush period of the little train,

when it was used to transport the coal nuggets here

from Bajiaogou.

Today, the tourist train is supposed to earn the nuggets.

Huáng doesn't have to worry about his workplace,

plans to bring the little train to an end, no longer exist.

In 2008, it was even declared an industrial monument.

Huáng will carry on driving the peasants and butchers

with their pigs through the valleys of Sichuan,

then, he will return exhausted to his little room

at the residential home,

which itself looks like an industrial monument.

(soft music)

There is no comfort after the drudgery and the heat,

not even a shower. Nonetheless, Huáng doesn't complain.

He is happy in the knowledge that he will soon drive home

to his wife and son by motorbike.

(soft music)

While Huáng is freshening up,

loud speakers are hung up on the squares of the town.

This happens every night, not only around here,

it is a national hobby.

Collective dancing,

something Huáng probably doesn't consider doing

after his long day of hard work.

It is mostly women anyway,

who meet every night around sundown for the open air ballet.

Depending on the preference of the group,

the focus can be either on keep fit or on dancing.

The main thing is that everyone is in motion.

(upbeat foreign music continues)

And the little train will continue to provide

the locomotion here in the valleys, in the heart of China.

In the land of the mega cities where growth knows no limits,

a dinosaur of the industrial age

drives over the narrow gauge railway tracks,

powered by steam and ardently loved.

(soft music) (train engine revving)