Abstract
Jinrong Zhang (张晋荣) is one of the 30,000,000 drivers that deliver coal, produce, and other commodities across China every day. Filmed with a Go-Pro camera installed in the cabin of a long-haul truck, this observational short follows Jinrong’s 35-hour drive to a coal mine in Shaanxi Province. After waiting for hours for the truck to be loaded, he drives to another province to deliver the coal. After delivery, he drives home to rest, shower, and have a hot meal, before he continues the next day. To save money, he keeps a water filter in his cabin and packs food from home for the road.
Trucking has become a way for men to move out of rural areas like Wenjishan so that their children can go to urban schools and obtain an education that might allow them to not toil in farm fields, or become migrant workers or truck drivers.