My People, My Country

1. The Eve by Guan Hu

The background of this story is the eve of the Founding Ceremony of the People’s Republic of China.

On the eve of the Founding Ceremony, in order to ensure that the ceremony went smoothly, Lin Zhiyuan, an intellectual who was responsible for the flag raising, was kept unusually busy. The crew, led by Lin Zhiyuan, had overcome numerous difficulties in laying circuits; making small flagpoles; looking for the best-suited national flag, military music performers, and flag bearers; and enhancing the termination device, so that the national flag could be successfully raised electrically at the ceremony. When the Founding Ceremony officially started and the five-starred red flag was raised to the top of the flagpole, Lin Zhiyuan, who was standing behind Chairman Mao and staring at the five-starred red flag fluttering in the wind, could not help but cry.

2. Passing By by Zhang Yibai

This story is set against the backdrop of the successful detonation of China’s first atomic bomb in 1964 and tells the story of Gao Yuan, a young scientific researcher. When there was an incident during atomic bomb research and development, Gao burst into the unit room and cut the power to avoid any further accidents, but he was knocked down by radiation. During his hospital stay, Gao Yuan met his love Fang Min and heard about the news of the atomic bomb’s successful test explosion while there. However, the two got separated by the crowd during the celebration. Nearly twenty years later, Gao Yuan was shown in a feature TV program about atomic and hydrogen bombs and man-made satellites that Fang Min was watching. He was included in the list of heroes who sacrificed themselves for their country.

3. Champion by Xu Zheng

This story takes place during the 1984 Olympic Games, when the Chinese women’s volleyball team won the gold medal. It tells the story of a pubescent boy who managed to meet the girl he’d had a crush on one last time before she left Shanghai. He snuck a TV set out of his friend’s house and invited the girl to watch the women’s volleyball finals in a lane with his relatives and friends. They ended up missing each other, but over thirty years later, when the Chinese women’s volleyball team won another gold medal in the Olympic Games, the boy and girl encountered each other in Times Square at last.

4. Going Home by Xue Xiaolu

In order to ensure that China’s national flag was raised right at midnight on July 1, 1997 during the Hong Kong handover ceremony between China and Britain, all personnel involved were busy in preparation. Chinese ceremonial master, An Wenbin, communicated with the British side several times to strategize and had even bought a watch to be consistent with Greenwich Mean Time. Mrs. Maureenn, executive director of the ceremony, sent for experienced watch repairman Mr. Li to check the watch for accuracy. Flag raiser Jiang Tao drilled the flag-raising routine in a blindfold. Captain of the honor guard Cheng Zhiqiang supervised the site to ensure everything linked together. Mr. Li gave a watch passed down from his father to Hong Kong policewoman Mrs. Lian as a gift. To make sure that the Chinese national flag was raised at midnight precisely, personnel in both Hong Kong SAR and Mainland China took different responsibilities and stuck to their posts together, showing the patriotism and familial ties in both Hong Kong SAR and Mainland China.

5. Hello Beijing by Ning Hao

On the eve of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, taxi driver Zhang Beijing was fortunate to win a ticket to the opening ceremony in a lucky draw. The chance to attend the opening ceremony was the biggest event Zhang could see and brag about, and he planned to send it to his son as a birthday gift. However, this ticket was claimed by a young passenger from Sichuan without his consent. Later, he found the passenger to take back the ticket. He discovered, however, that the passenger had traveled from Wenchuan to Beijing and had been aiming to visit the Bird’s Nest Stadium, which his late father helped construct before dying in the Wenchuan Earthquake. In the end, Zhang Beijing decided to send the ticket to this young passenger as a gift, and he was delighted to see the young boy being interviewed happily on a live show.

6. One For All by Wen Muye

This story’s background is the Sept. 3, 2015 Chinese Military Celebration. Lü Xiaoran was a Chinese airwoman at the top of her class through her determination and persistence, with a dream to fly since her childhood. However, before the celebration, she was informed that she would actually be flying standby. It turned out that flying standby was very important, and the pilots needed to be completely sure and qualified in case they had to replace any position. Lü Xiaoran accepted the arrangement. Although she didn’t fly her fighter plane across Tian’anmen Square during the celebration, she felt relieved seeing her comrades complete their missions perfectly with her escort.

7. The Guiding Star by Chen Kaige

This story is set during the successful re-entry landing of the Shenzhou 11 capsule in 2016. Director of Dahongshan Poverty Relief Office, Mr. Li, helped two lost herder brothers, Wodeler and Hazabu, out of kindness, and even forgave them after they stole life-saving money of his, making the brothers feel ashamed. When the capsule of Shenzhou 11 successfully re-entered in Dahongshan, the brothers helped rescuers use their shoulders to hoist a sinking chair, making their own contributions and finding hope and meaning in their lives once again.