Footprints

Fire lookout, one of the loneliest jobs in the world. For the past 40 years, Zhao Fuzhou and his wife Chen Xiuling have spent six months every year living deep in the no-man’s land watching over one of the world’s largest man-made forests in northern China’s Saihanba. Tune in for this edition of Footprints and hear about how three generations of foresters have contributed to the creation of China’s “green miracle”.

Footprints presents "The Incredibles" where you will meet ordinary but incredible individuals. For over a decade, Wang Jun has been dedicated to writing and posting about carbon-related topics online. His articles have inspired many to turn their attention to carbon neutrality, which echoes the low-carbon developing goal China is aiming to achieve.

Chen Wanghui, Yu Jihong and Fang Qin are among the more than 2,000 delegates to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. The trio—a village Party chief, a chemist and an archeologist—have all made great achievements and played a leading role in their respective fields through hard work, devotion and a willingness to help others.

Ancient books are important cultural heritage that help people understand history and civilization. Yet these historical records are on the verge of extinction due to the passage of time. To rescue the old books, a guild of craftspeople has appeared — the book restorers. In this episode of Footprints, we will hear the story of a Chinese book restorer who fell in love with ancient book conservation at the first sight and has since then devoted her life to the rare skill.

​Shi Guangyin and Tang Zhenya are two veteran model members of the Communist Party of China. Shi has been devoting his life to combating desertification in northwest China for about four decades while Tang has earned the trust from local fishermen in eastern China for his superb mail service and altruistic efforts to help them.

Luc Bendza is a Gabonese martial artist, actor and director. He came to China in 1983 for the first time and has since dedicated his life to Kung Fu. Against the odds, this Gabonese martial artist-turned-action hero has not only achieved his "Kung Fu dream" in China but also actively participated in cultural exchanges between China and Africa.

Dunhuang is a small city in the northwestern Chinese province of Gansu. It has a history of more than 2000 years and has been crowned as “a place born in legends.” Neil Schmid is the first full-time foreign researcher in the Dunhuang Academy. In this episode of Footprints, we’ll find out why an American has decided to settle down in this remote Chinese city and what Dunhuang truly means to him. Let’s together explore its relevance to China and the rest of the world today from an expat scholar’s perspective.

Footprints presents "The Incredibles" where you will meet ordinary but incredible individuals. Though spending a pleasant evening in the theatre and watching a world-class West End or Broadway musical is more than common for western audiences, it was quite an unusual pastime for the Chinese audiences until more than a decade ago. That was when Yang Jiamin, our guest for this episode, founded her own musical production company.

​Twenty-eight year old Tenzin Yeshi is a fervent performer, researcher and promoter of Tibetan opera, listed as a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage in 2009. Born into a family of artists in Lhasa, he compares the traditional art as the “butter” of his life, meaning it’s in his genes and it’s his mission to pursue a career in it.

Using smartphones to deal with nearly everything in daily life has become a no-brainer for most of us, but for those who were born and grew up in a pre-digital era, technology often moves too fast for them to keep up. Post 90’s Zhang Jiaxin believes closing the gap between the elderly and new technology can be an effective way to solve many of the problems with aging. In this episode of Footprints, we’ll bring you the story of this young man who endeavors to help China’s non-tech savvy older population to go digital.