So at the moment I am watching episode 2 of 鸡毛飞上天. This is a very interesting TV drama because of the trade in 义乌, 浙江 known as 鸡毛换糖. I feel the need to know more about the economy in different parts of China and today I chanced upon this on Youtube.
Episode 1 is about the young 鸡毛 who as a baby was found by a head of the 陈 clan in 义乌. Because during Mao's time peddling sugar is seen as capitalist in nature and therefore forbidden by CCP's Marxist doctrine, and the main livelihood of 义乌' s residents lies in selling candies, the men are rounded up and taken into custody. They are saved by 鸡毛 together with his young friend by causing a fire. 鸡毛 is considered a hero and is given the proper name 陈江河 but soon after the officers suspected that the fire was a deliberate to free the men, and have caused unease among the villagers until they find the culprit. 鸡毛 owns up and is taken into custody but is saved by his friend. Before leaving they found a butchered pig hanging and cut it up to pieces to gift the villagers. 鸡毛 is sent away in order to save him, and his foster father 金水 owns up to all that happened. 鸡毛 meets a youngster who lives under a bridge. This youngster turns out to be a girl named 小骆 whose mother passed away and whose stepmother arranged for her to be married off except she is actually sold off to traffickers and she escaped from them. The two bickered a lot but eventually learned to trust each other after running away from officers who crack down on candy-peddling.
In episode 2, 鸡毛 leaves 小骆 (骆玉珠) and the latter comes to the former's village where the rattledrum left by 鸡毛 is almost broken by 陈金水 who had already prohibited anyone in the village to go out and peddle candy. The rattledrum is actually the signal for the candy peddlers in pretty much the same way that in PH, we know the dirty ice cream man is near when we hear bells. Meanwhile, 鸡毛 meets a university student named 英杰 on the train bound for Beijing. This person becomes interested in 鸡毛 for the latter's innate economic skills and he shared more about economic principles to 鸡毛. Before they part ways and promise to meet in 义乌 after three years, he tells 鸡毛: "义乌之外有中国， 中国之外还有世界。只有借着太平洋，大西洋的风，鸡毛才能真的飞上天。" In the next days he writes to his village and tells them about his trips but mainly focusing on information his village will need. He provides them with things that places in China lack, as well as places that produce excellent goods like 西北's wool and beef but needs toothpaste and soap as well as porcelain bowls and glass cups. 英杰 returns to 义乌 and is close to 谢书记. By this time, 陈金水 has taken 180 degree change and is totally against marketing efforts. In one meeting, 英杰 shares his many learnings from meeting 鸡毛/陈江河. 谢书记 expresses his wish to break the generational poverty in 义乌 by reviving its traditions.
In episode 3, 鸡毛 finally returns to his village and meets 骆玉珠 again. He starts a company with fellow young adult villagers to gather cloth scraps from a company and to turn these into mops to be sold cheaply for steady income.
This drama is something that is perfect for the Holy Week. The acting is excellent. The cinematography is excellent. There is something in the characters that say that the storyline will never be boring. It tells the story of a process and this process spans 30 years, turning a poor village's simple way of life and leveraging it to enter the global market. I should have watched this along with so many TV dramas and movies that capture the impact of China's market reforms to the lives of ordinary citizens.
