Qing Chun (Gui)

In the last part of the YOUTH trilogy, individual protagonists finally come to the fore: Wang Bing accompanies couples who return to their families’ villages for the Chinese New Year celebrations after having claimed their wages (for travel and gifts). The confines of the workshops now give way to landscapes in Yunnan, the south-west and the lower Yangtze. Weddings are joyfully celebrated and traditional local rituals marked with music, dance and fireworks. Wang Bing’s presence is acknowledged, sometimes jokingly, sometimes critically; he makes no attempt to make himself invisible. Yet the journey eventually leads back to Zhili once more – an endless, inescapable cycle. (bik)