第5章

Dreams and Honors

1.The Female Model Worker of Hao Jianxiu's Generation

Yang Yulan was introducing herself in the conference room when I interviewed the model workers that afternoon. I knew I was going to have a good interview with her.For several days I interviewed only those selected by the companies and community offices.

I immediately asked to carry out an individual interview with her. I got her home telephone number before she stood up and told me that she had to go home to cook the dinner.She also had to lead the evening exercise in her neighborhood.Before she left, she told us that her children would also be home the next day for National Day.We had therefore decided to visit her the next afternoon in order to interview her children as well.

On September 30th, everyone in the city of Shenyang was in the happy mood for the upcoming National Day. People would visit their parents and spend the day with them as they would do during Chinese New Year.On October 1st, the city seemed as if it was celebrating the first day of Chinese New Year.I guess only the careless Northeast Chinese could make this much happiness out of National Day.

I was too late to meet with Yang Yulan and her children after my survey in Shenyang Aircraft Factory. So I had to reschedule the interview to the morning on October 1st.

It was a sunny autumn day. The sky was as blue as the endless sea.We parked the car outside of the Model Workers'Building.I stepped out and saw an old lady slowly walking towards us with a bag of fruits in her hand.It was Yang Yulan herself.

Yang Yulan's apartment was on the first floor in Unit 2 of the Model Workers'Building. It was of 70m2.She lived in the apartment with her youngest son.Following her, we walked inside and found the decoration relatively more modern and fashionable than the other retired workers'apartments.Obviously she had worked on the decoration.I was told that several months ago, a major leader from the State Council came to visit retired model workers and Yang Yulan's household was scheduled to be the second on the list.However, the leader changed his mind after visiting the first household and walked into a smaller building, reluctant to simply follow the plan arranged by the provincial government.Yang Yulan was as disappointed as she was excited about the visit.She could not wave off her pitiful feelings in the next several months.

That morning, Yang Yulan took out an old notebook titled“Heroes.”All the pages were in a fading yellow color and some were molded during the past decades. It was a book recording model workers and hero workers in the textile industry during Yang Yulan's younger years.I quickly identified her photo.She looked fresh and beautiful, a shadow of the glorious days that passed her by.I was surprised to find the two nationally known female model workers in the book：Zhao Mengtao on the first page and Hao Jianxiu on a page behind Yang Yulan's.I asked her，“So you knew Zhao Mengtao and Hao Jianxiu?”

“Yes！We were all attending the first National Conference of Model Workers and Heroes. We exchanged our working experience together.”Yang Yulan took out a photo of her and Hao Jianxiu.

I gazed upon the photo and saw their young and beautiful figures in the background of the constantly progressing time. Their life had turned out to be so different.

Yang Yulan's family was from Anqiu in Shandong Province. Her father and his fellows rolled their trolleys and carried their baskets to Yingkou in Northeast China.They were the last Republic of China citizens to embark on the adventure into the Northeast.Therefore, they did not get to enjoy the prosperous fields and harvests of rice, sorghums and corns like their predecessors.Instead, they had to become water venders in Yingkou to support their life in poverty.

In Yang Yulan's memories, her childhood was the worst days of her life. For years she would not be reminded of that time.The basket she used at the age between six and seven with her mother as beggars in the street was kept in the municipal museum of Yingkou.She remembered every winter when the earth in Northeast China was covered with ice and snow, the water pond in the Temple of Daguantang would be frozen, announcing the end of her father's modest business.They had no choice but to beg in the streets for food.She had witnessed the death of her two younger brothers and her grandparents due to famine.At the age of eight, she saw a truck filled with grain in the neighborhood.Her father wanted to exchange his daughter for some grain.He asked for five and a half dou[1]of grain but the man would only give five for the little girl.During the bargaining, her mother suddenly found her affection for the daughter.She left a riddle to Yang Yulan，“Yulan, my child.Go with this man to your grandmother's place so that you can live！”

Yang Yulan remembered her mother telling her how her grandmother died when she was four. She had no grandmother, how could that help her live?Then she realized that mother was implying to her that she would find no life if she left with the man.So she ran as fast as she could away from the man.And she lived on.

One year during the Chinese New Year, her mother got some black beans and flour when begging in the street. The family sat around a ceramic pot and cooked their Chinese New Year meal.All of a sudden, the pot broke, leaving the food on the filthy ground, hence destroying the family's hope for a meal.Her mother, out of despair, ran out of the door and knelt in the direction of the Temple of Daguantang.She cried as she screamed，“Paradises！Why can't I just die?I can't live like this anymore！How can anyone live through another day like this?”

She stood up and knotted a rope around the tree in the courtyard of the temple. She was going to hang herself when Yang Yulan's father realized that the rope on the door was gone.He went to find his wife and rescued her，“My children's mother.How do you expect me to live with the children when you are gone?”

At the failure of her suicide, Yang Yulan's mother threw the rope away and sighed，“A bad life is still better than a decent death. If the Paradise from above wouldn't take me, then I should keep suffering！”

In 1948，before the liberation of Yingkou, Yang Yulan saw a local fool wandering in the streets whilst singing loudly of his prophets. He sometimes would change his tune to“I pick up what the foreigners had left and I made the foreigner's fortune.But one bullet will keep me away from home forever.”

There were other people singing different tunes as well，“The Emperor Guangxu picked up a bun in Yingkou to feed his dog.”

A long night had passed and the voice of the local fool's quieted down as the guns and canons were ceased. The Liberation Army entered the city.Her parents received many bean pancakes from the raid of the lord proprietor's house.The family gathered together and ate all of the pancakes with cold water.From then on, she had no worries about the next meal anymore.The Communist army was there for her.

One morning, a poster was put out in front of No. 5 Textile Factory in Yingkou.It was a recruitment notice for female workers.All the girls in the neighborhood were talking about the opportunity.At the age of 15，Yang Yulan, shorter than other girls, followed the older girls from her neighborhood to sign up for the recruitment.She secretly stood on her tiptoe so that she would not seem too short for the standard.

A couple of days later, another poster was put out with the names of those employed. Yang Yulan found her name on it and the whole family was overwhelmed with happiness.

March 14th in 1950 was a day that Yang Yulan would never forget. Her mother gave her a large cotton-padded jacket.Her work started at 3：20 am.It was still dark before the dawn, so her father carried her on his back and took her to the factory with her neighbors Lan Yumei and Kong Quanling.They walked past the Nine Windings Road and the Rooster Tower.As soon as the steam whistle blew out the signal of working time, young women waiting in front of the factory gate all rushed inside.

Bathed in the sunlight shone over the new China, Yang Yulan felt as if she had taken one step into paradise as she joined the female textile workers. She cherished her opportunity offered to her by the new era of her nation.She made good use of her agile hands and made beautiful embroideries that awarded her 19 points of excellence every month.With the points, she got to earn 9 Yuan per month.Her older brother found a job himself, which paid him 9 Yuan per month as well.The family with a monthly income of 18 Yuan had found its way into a comfortable lifestyle.

It was an age of miracles in Northeast China. Yang Yulan, though merely at the age of 15，had skills comparable with the weaving goddess in fairy tales.In half a year she had made the factory and municipal record of production with spinning gears.

When she started working in the factory, she could only work with one spinning gear containing 216 spindles. In three months, she had managed to work with 432 spindles together.

Experienced workers in the factory were amazed by her talent and they all agreed on a bright future of hers.

At the end of the first half year, Yang Yulan was able to work with two spins containing 864 spindles.

Before she finished her apprentice year, she had already been comfortable with 1296 spindles. The factory was very pleased with her progress；they sent red flags and certificates of honors to her house in happy music to praise her.

The then younger PRC was just like the sun in the early morning, and it was rising in the East of the world. Everywhere one could find the passionate efforts in constructing the new socialist country with good news and records being created and surpassed.In Northeast China, alongside the advantages in heavy and light industry, the textile industry was making considerable progress as well.

Yang Yulan was the keeper of the production record：she started with connecting five to six threads in one minute and gradually raised the record to seven and eight, eighteen, and eventually, twenty-six.

Later on she innovated the technique and used two hands to change the spindles, followed by her invention of the tower-shaped technique of changing spindles. The profit she created during that time equals to 3400 tons of grain.

Her excellence was widely praised.

In 1951，Yang Yulan was awarded with the title of factory and municipal model worker.

When Hao Jianxiu'techniques of improving productivity were promoted in textile factories all over Northeast China, Yang Yulan was appointed as the local promoting team leader. She took her team to the final competitions in the factory, the city, even in the province.She herself became the most competitive textile worker in the province of Liaoning and Northeast China.

In 1952 she was awarded with the title of provincial model worker.

In 1953 she was awarded with the title of Northeast China model worker and was recommended to receive the national model worker's award.

She wore the red flower and, for the first time in her life, took the train to Beijing to attend the National Conference of Model Workers and Heroes. She represented Northeast China and sat next to Hao Jianxiu, whom she highly respected.The photo of Hao Jianxiu and her was published by People's Daily.During National Holiday, she got to meet with the ten Founding Marshals of the PRC.She had earned her fame in the capital city.

In October, she returned from her trip before she was selected to join the third greeting group to Korea led by Marshal He Long. She did her training for a full month in Dandong, then known as Andong, before the group traveled across the Yalu River to send people's best wishes to the volunteer soldiers.She rendered several reports to the soldiers there about how she became a model worker and how the nation had progressed greatly during the First Five-year Plan.

Yang Yulan's name was heard all over Northeast China and sent its fragrance to the battlefields in Korea just like the flower she was named after. She had had many admirers, most of whom were officers of the China volunteer army.

“Many young officers would write letters to me，”said Yang Yulan as she smiled.

“Really?”I was curious.

“Of course！”said Yang Yulan as she took out an old album. She flipped to the pages at the end where many pictures of half an inch or one inch were stuck on paper.There were more than three pages of those pictures.All of them were photos of young officers and all of them were young and handsome.From their uniforms I could tell that neither was under the position of lieutenant.

I was amazed as I looked at those pictures，“So many young admirers！”

“Yes！”said Yang Yulan.“They wrote passionate letters to me, asking me to be their friend, or even their wife！”

During that time, an army officer was considered the perfect suitor.

“I do like Liberation Army soldiers. I married a medical officer.”

Her husband, Pan Daocai, was in the same greeting group to Korea.

Her attendance to the National Conference of Model Workers and Heroes had brought Yang Yulan the utmost glorious days of her life. She was sent to Qingdao Textile Institute and studied for three years there.After she graduated, she returned to Northeast No.5 Textile Factory in Yingkou and worked in the same position she had left.She did have a good marriage.Amongst all her admirers, she fell in love with Pan Daocai, who was working as a medical officer in the Air Force Radar Army.

It was a time of ideals and heroes. Model workers were the true heroes, loved and respected by everyone in China.

Though Yang Yulan was amongst the names of miracle makers in Northeast China, she did not manage to move into the Model Workers'Building in Tiexi, Shenyang. She had lived her life in Yingkou, separated from her husband.In 1961 she had her eldest daughter and in 1968 her second.In 1970 she had a son.Two years later, she had her youngest daughter.It was not until then did she get transferred to Shenyang Water Pump Factory, to work in the same city with her husband.However, in less than ten years, the paradise in Tiexi had to confront its decline and fall.

Yang Yulan and her family, living in that paradise, had to confront their destiny as well.

I sighed for that destiny.

2.The Various“Firsts”of the PRC

An era of dreams and honors was walking towards me with the ashes of history on its shoulder.

The newborn PRC was like a young man inspired by his dreams and hopes, encouraged by the miracles and legends he created. The industrial base in Northeast China was the nation's“general armament department”built on the ruins of the war.It was built with the hopes to support the China volunteer soldiers that had just marched cross the Yalu River and the important construction projects to build a better tomorrow.

Tiexi was seen as“the eldest son”of China's industrialization because of its large number of state-owned industrial companies. Hundreds of state-owned companies and factories there had together created the many“firsts”in the history of the PRC.

The first national emblem was produced in No. 1 Machine Tool Factory.

The emblem was designed by eight famous architects including Liang Sicheng, Lin Huiyin and Zhang Ding. In 1950 it was hung on the Tian'anmen Rostrum.The wheat and gear decorating the emblem was hand-painted and required a high technique skill of the manufacturer.It was so intricately done that I made the mistake of thinking that only Shenyang Foundry could have done such a good job.

Therefore, I was taken by surprise when Vice President of Shenyang Machine Tool Group Sun Chunjun told me about how No. 1 Machine Tool Factory made that very important“first.”

On the 60th anniversary of the founding of the PRC, in order to figure out which factory actually made the first emblem, the departments concerned undertook a survey amongst senior workers. Workers from Shenyang Foundry all denied that they might had participated the production and confirmed that No.1 Machine Tool Factory was responsible：the national emblem was made of aluminum instead of iron cast.

That was when I finally understood the very first“first”of the PRC produced in the industrial base in Northeast China.

When the emblem was made, Ye Xuanping, eldest son of Marshal Ye Jianying, was Director of Second Workshop in Shenyang No. 1 Machinery Factory.From 1954 to 1960，he was Deputy Director and Chief Engineer of No.1 Machine Tool Factory.

I returned to my hotel that evening and looked at old photos of Tiexi. I realized that the first furnace of liquid steel in the PRC was also produced in Tiexi, though in Shenyang Heavy Machinery Factory instead of Shenyang Steel Factory.It was produced on November 4th in 1949，one month and five days after the founding of the PRC.

On December 16th in 1952，Shenyang Heavy Machinery Factory made another success：the production of the first 5-ton steam hammer. On December 24th, Shenyang Daily reported the news titled“Successful Production of PRC's First 5-Ton Steam Hammer”on its front page.In 1954 the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications issued special stamps drawn with the picture of the steam hammer.

The glorious past of the industrial base in Northeast China reflected its charm and power.

Miracles and good news were passed on to the central government in Beijing.

Shenyang Tractor Factory, on April 30th in 1958，one year before the 10th anniversary of the PRC, produced the first 18 horsepower steam tractor of the nation. The tractor was named“the Creation.”

Creation symbolizes innovation during that time. It was also the time when factories in North 2nd Street competed against each other in making their own legends representing Northeast China.Shenyang Transformer Works produced the first 3000kw hydrogenerator, followed by the successful manufacturing of China's first 69kv bulk-oil circuit-breaker in August.

Inspired by all the successes in the city, Shenyang Tramcar Factory produced the first trolley bus of Shenyang.

The garden of innovation was not represented by only one beautiful flower；various fruits of innovation were the true pride of Tiexi.

In the Ruhr of China, Shenyang Measurement Equipment Factory produced the first 100-ton track weight that could be used to weigh trains. It was known as“the First Weight in China.”

On the eve of Chinese New Year in 1950，workers in Shenyang Rubber Ware Factory, despite the outdated equipment in the workshops and the difficulties, produced the first rubber wheels for fighter jets.

However, the landscape of Tiexi remained the three chimneys in the Smelter and Refinery Factory. The first chimney, built in 1938 by the Japanese owner of the factory, is 122 meters tall with a base diameter of 20 meters.It is one of Asia's tallest chimneys.This chimney was built for the production of electrolytic copper.，hence it was called，“the copper chimney.”The second chimney was built in July of 1958.It is 120 meters tall with a smaller base diameter of 18 meters.This chimney was built to serve the workshop of electrolytic lead and zinc and was called“the lead chimney.”The third chimney was built much later in September in 1974.The 100-meter tall chimney was called“the emission chimney.”

In the district of Tiexi during the age of dreams, honor and heroes, common people had created various“firsts”of the PRC. Looking at Northeast China from atop the Changbai Mountain, I gained my wide and deep perspectives：the various“firsts”made the dreams and honor of Northeast China.

On July 13th in 1956，the first Liberation truck was driven directly from the production line in Changchun No. 1 Automobile Works to start its job of transporting equipment all over China.

Two years later, even during the blinding passion of the Great Leap Forward, the first Dongfeng automobile was produced. It was the first four-seated car produced in the PRC.It was in the same year that the first luxurious car，“Hongqi，”meaning the red flag, was manufactured.

The shiny convertible Hongqi became a shared memory of every Chinese when it was slowly driven through Chang'an Avenue during every National Day military parade, inspected by three generations of leaders of the nation.

China No. 1 Heavy Machinery Factory in Qiqihar, on the other hand, was praised as“the national treasure”of the PRC by Premier Zhou Enlai.

It was indeed an era of dreams that I long for！As of today, we could only attempt to feel the pulse of history in Shenyang Museum of Foundry and Life Museum of New Workers'Suburb.

Yet again our respect and passion for that time would be maintained！

3.Traveling Up North and Down South for the Sake of Industrialization

Though I had put on my heaviest coat, I could not stop shivering in the cold wind.

I stepped outside the hotel through the revolving door and quickly got in the car waiting for me outside. That morning I had the plan to visit Shenyang Machine Tool Group in Tiexi.As the car drove through the streets, I mindlessly looked at the city from the window.I wondered what story would I be told in the former Machine Tool Factory, where industrial miracles in Northeast China were made.

My mood was suddenly lightened when I saw many scarlet sage flowers planted in front of the gate to the company. The passionate color of red warmed my heart and rendered me with the feeling of relief.I was warmly welcomed by Director Li and Deputy Director Yang, both in charge of the publicity department of the company.I had the opportunity to interview workers from No.1，No.2 and No.3 Machine Tool Factory.

I was offered a seat in a meeting room of simple decoration. Director Wang from Zhongjie Machine Tool Factory made a phone call before three workers in the same uniforms arrived.At first, I thought they were a family due to the resemblance；yet later I came to understand that they were not.The middle-aged man was Gao Qingjiang and the young woman next to him was his daughter Gao Ruiyang.The middle-aged woman was Deng Zili, who worked with Gao Qingjiang in the same factory.

Gao Qingjiang was a man with strong eyebrows and bright eyes. He was quite talkative.I learnt that he was one of the company's pacemakers and he worked in Second Component Workshop.I took a walk around his workshop after lunch and saw his photo on the company's Billboard for the Five Honorable Pacemakers.Gao Qingjiang was showing his daughter the photo in excitement when I took the opportunity to take a picture of the father and daughter's touching moment.

Gao Qingjiang was quite tall with a deep voice. I found the interview going quite smooth with him.He was prepared and happy to talk.His words and body languages were displaying the pride and honor a worker felt for the company.He talked about his father's generation's adventures of industrialization and his own experience during the company's most difficult days.I was amazed and touched by his loyalty and devotion to the company.

Nowadays people use words such as“the second generation rich”and“the officialings”to describe children of the rich and powerful in China. Gao Qingjiang, on the other hand, acquired his own identity as one of a second generation.He was a typical case of“the second generation machine tool worker”since his father had worked as a fitter in the same factory.Gao had five siblings, four of which worked in the same factory.Even the spouses of three of his siblings worked in machine tool as well.Children of his two sisters had recently joined the workers in the factory as well.Gao Qingjiang's daughter and her husband were also machine tool workers.His daughter worked in the same area as he did：they were both fitters.

It was indeed a family with its destiny bounded to the machine tool factory. I got to know Gao Qingjiang's daughter, and later on, his father in the interview.For his father, the story of the factory lied still in the glorious days that had passed him by.It is arguably that the story of industrial miralces in Northeast China had started with Gao Qingjiang's father and grandfather's generation.What was shown to me on this day was a result of what happened in the difficult days in the past.Therefore, I made the decision to start my writing with the story of Gao's father.

On November 5th in 2011，I visited Gao Qingjiang's beautiful house and met with his father. Though it was quite warm inside, the old man was wearing a dark navy cotton-padded jacket.His daughter Gao Ruiyang's recently taken wedding photo was hung on the wall in the house.It seemed that for a man like Gao's father, despite the most glorious and difficult days in his life, a happy ending with a satisfying retirement with his family would be all one could ask for.

Gao Qingjiang's father was indeed a satisfied old man. At the age of 82，he had good sight and hearing and a high spirit expressed through his fresh look and combed grey hair.The friendly look on his face would turn into a happy smile when talking with me.Not unlike his son, he seemed quite excited to tell me his story.

I heard all about his past：the seven years of his travel up north and the eight years down south. He must have faced many challenges.However, he did not show any negative emotions when he recounted his memories buried deep down.There was no pain, no sorrow or anger.His happy, satisfying smile had impressed me much.Whenever I thought about my trip in Northeast China, the first thing I remembered was that smile.

“I started with Shenyang No. 1 Machine Tool Factory！”said the old man in a light-hearted tune.His smile revealed that only a few of his teeth were left.Yet he seemed as talkative, positive and friendly as his son Gao Qingjiang.

“A couple of years later I was transferred to Qiqihar No. 1 Machine Tool Factory.”

Gao Qingjiang, sitting opposite his father, interrupted him to ask，“Weren't we having a good life in Shenyang by then?Why did we move to Qiqihar?”

It seemed that Gao Qingjiang had subconsciously taken the role of the interviewer. He kept asking his father questions about the beginning days of the northeast industrial base.

“Because the factory decided to move. It was the time……”

“But why?”

“The war！”said the old man, deep in his thoughts.“We moved for our safety.”

“Was it safe over there?”

“Of course！Anywhere north of here was safer. Qiqihar was quite safe compared to Shenyang.”

“But why didn't you move south?I heard things were more stable down south.”Gao Qingjiang seemed as curious as I was about the past of the machine tool industry.

“Well, we would……but it's the leader's decision. It was the time of the Korean War！Anyway, we were transferred to Qiqihar No.1 Machine Tool Factory.There were two machine tool factories in Qiqihar.Some of us ended up in No.2 Machine Tool Factory and we ended up in No.1.Workers like us, who traveled up north, we stayed for seven years.Your two elder sisters were made in Qiqihar.But we were transferred again to Wuhan after I put you in your mother's body.”Looking serious, the old man paused for a short while after these words.

Gao Qingjiang blushed：he seemed a little embarrassed that his father talked about how he was“made”in front of his wife, daughter and guest.

Who would have thought that this Northeastern man, despite his passion and honor towards his career and his life, could be embarrassed just like that！

“So where was my elder brother born in?”asked Gao Qingjiang as he frowned.

“Your elder brother?Why don't you do the math yourself?”

The old man babbled for a while in an attempt to answer the question. Yet he could not give a clear location.So many years had past, bringing him so many small details to remember.He was a little confused.

Gao Qingjiang lowered his voice and said to us，“My elder brother was born in 1956，so he must be‘made'in Qiqihar as well.”

His words made me laugh. It seemed that Gao Qingjiang, serious about everything as he was, took the interview as an exam and an inquisition in his family archives despite his father's old age.However, the old man finally reached to a conclusion，“You are my third son！He is your elder brother！He was born in Qiqihar！”

Gao Qingjiang looked relieved as he turned to us and said，“At least he remembers now！”

Gao Qingjiang's father learnt later in Qiqihar that his factory's original plan to move up north was canceled.

It was a result of the unexpected change in China's relationship with its“Big Brother，”the Soviet Union. The plan was canceled due to security considerations.Gao's father was therefore transferred again to Wuhan Heavy Machine Tool Factory and spent eight years working there.In the family's first year in Wuhan, Gao Qingjiang was born.Three years later, his little sister was born.The family's journey reflected the pattern of“blood donation”from the northeast industrial base to other areas in China.In order to support newly founded machine tool companies all over the country, workers and workshops, sometimes even a whole factory, were required to move afar.

You can take a family out of Northeast China, but you can never take Northeast China out of a family. Gao's father told me about how his family could not adapt to the different climate in Wuhan.The weather in Wuhan gave him blisters on his hands and beriberi on his feet.Summers in Wuhan were too hot to bear for any Northerner.Gao Qingjiang's mother had suffered from arthritis, which had tortured her even more during the wet, suffocating days in Wuhan.Whenever she was in pain, she could not even walk, not to mention going to work and taking care of her family.In 1966，the family had no choice but to return to Shenyang.

After eight years living down south, the family returned not only due to the difficulties of adapting to the climate, but also for the deep affections they had for their hometown.

Born in Wuhan, where nine Chinese provinces were connected with the Yangtze River and Han River, Gao Qingjiang found the tender South China more appealing. Whenever he climbed up the Yellow Crane Tower in the city, he could see the great Yangtze River flowing towards the east underneath the blue sky.After he returned to Northeast China, he found the skies darker due to heavy pollution from the industrial base.He would eat rice every day in Wuhan；but in Shenyang most of meals were made of corn flour.Despite the overall lack of resources in China during the time, Wuhan was a more prosperous city.

However, despite the beautiful sceneries and high income in the South, his father told him，“That is not where we belong.”Fighting against all the difficulties of transferal, his father eventually succeeded in bring his whole family back to Shenyang after 15 years away from his hometown.

Gao Qingjiang's father was promoted to the top-ranking technician's position and worked as Head Supervisor of Workshop in the factory before they left Wuhan.

After his father returned to Shenyang, he had to face a choice：which factory amongst all of them in Shenyang should he pick?At first, he thought about going back to No. 1 Machine Tool Factory.On second thought, he decided to pick somewhere closer to home so that he could send his five children to school every day.But which factory?He was faced with the same question again.

In his middle 30s, Gao Qingjiang's father was quite energetic and his experience in the industry had given him the freedom to choose any company he wanted. After careful considerations, he eventually picked Zhongjie Factory and resumed his career there.He worked in the factory until his second son Gao Qingjiang took his position.

After two years working in Zhongjie Factory, Gao Qingjiang's father was promoted to the position of Head of Security Compliance.

The old man raised his voice when telling us his life before and after the promotion. It must have been the most glorious days of his career：he was using gestures to excitedly explain his work.

“We assembled all kinds of machine tools！The projects only got bigger！That big drilling machine……it was so tall！We had three workshops, one for boring machines, one for drilling machines, and the third one, No. 3，was for the overhaul workshop.”

The old man was laughing with pride.

“How about your work in No. 1 Machine Tool Factory?”

“They produce regular machine tools. Zhongjie was specialized in drilling machines.They were different.T-68 was the standard boring machine we produced；and hundreds of T-61s could be produced in a very short time.When I was Head of Security Compliance, we had such a big production！Those machine tools were so tall！”The old man stuttered a little bit, overwhelmed by his excitement to recount his best memories.He was so eager to tell us every detail he remembered.Yet the excitement had obstructed his words.

Gao Qingjiang told me that he seldom saw his father in his childhood. Father would have already gone to work when he was asleep.And his return was too late for a little boy as well.Winter days in Northeast China were cold and lasting.Gao Qingjiang remembered his father's winter accessories very well：a pair of furtrimmed shoes and a big, thick wool hat.I knew the look very well：it was the look worn by every respected worker in movies made during Gao's father's time.

The old man, over the age of 80，seemed extremely proud of the change of his hometown，“It was as good as making today's 5A Tourist Sites！”

He talked about how he witnessed the change after he returned to Shenyang from his traveling up north and down south：Zhongjie Factory was located in a small alley at the start. Security of the factory relied merely on the barbed wires surrounding the buildings, which were later replaced by brick walls.There were four workshops in the factory and a production of more than 200 could be made every month……

“Do you know about the posters in the factory that read‘Wherever the factory goes, we go with it?'”That was between 1950 to 1951. It was a sign of the factory's plan to move.”

“But how did you end up in the machine tool factory?”asked Gao Qingjiang for me.

“I was from a rural village；I don't even know what a machine tool was！”

“Why didn't you join the army?Why the factory?”

“The army was not quite popular by then. The war was over！”

He was right. The Liberation Army had taken over the whole country by then.

“My village was near Xinmin in Shenyang, so many of us from the same village came to Shenyang together. We read about this job opportunity in the newspaper and went for it.They told us the recruitment was over when we signed up.We told them that it cannot be since we had come all the way from Xinmin！They can't just ask us to leave！They gave us another chance to attend the admission exam in No.1 Machine Tool Factory.Everyone of us was employed.”

The old man told us that he had his wedding in his hometown in 1948. In 1951 he was employed by No.1 Machine Tool Factory and therefore started his life as an industrial worker.Due to his poor family background, he had dropped out of school in 4th grade.After he got his job, he went on and off to Qiqihar Night School for almost five years.He had to walk a long distance from the factory to the school.However, his curiosity for more knowledge and education saw him through the cold winter days.He had a family by then；and the education process was not easy for him.He must have endured a lot of difficulties to become who he wanted to be.

In 1951 the family moved from Shenyang to Qiqihar.

In 1957 they moved to Wuhan.

In 1965 the family returned to Shenyang.

In 1990 the old man retired.

“We were so poor when we first moved to Qiqihar！We had nothing except for a blanket, a quilt, a couple of basins and bowls.”

“How about the next seven years in Qiqihar?”

“Not much different！I had to make our dinner table and cabinet with wood panels and nails myself. We did not have any decent piece of furniture around the house……”

“But what about our life in Wuhan?”asked Gao Qingjiang before his father finished.

“A room in the workers'dormitory was allocated to us！”answered the old man with a satisfying smile.

“Was there a decent bed there?”

“Yes！And it was a pull-out bed……”

Gao Qingjiang interrupted，“Yes！I remember it！We had a Triple Five clock, brand goods！And also an opera box（he meant a radio）. I kept the Triple Five clock and brought it back to Shenyang with us.”

His father added，“We also had a bike and a flashlight. For myself, I had a watch and a leather bag.”

……

Before his retirement, the old man worked as Director of Workshop. As a supervisory technician, he was paid a salary of 104 Yuan per month, equal to the Deputy Director of Factory.After his retirement, the company paid him 200 Yuan every month.He had enjoyed his salary, which did not change for a long time, for decades.But his housing condition had constantly been changing.When he was first employed by Zhongjie Factory, he had to live in a single bedroom.Later on, after the factory built a new residence building with a heated brick bed in every apartment, he moved in there.He stayed in the building after the brick beds were replaced by terrestrial heating.

Gao Qingjiang told me that his family chose Zhongjie Factory because of the building with heated brick beds. His mother had suffered from arthritis and the heating was a relief to her condition.After living in the same building for ten years, a newly-built small apartment was allocated to the family before they moved again into a two-bedroom apartment of 51m2.The family was living in a heated, bright apartment of 92m2 when I visited.Gao Qingjiang's father said the family had finally“stepped into paradise.”

I was leaving Gao Qingjiang's apartment building at sunset when I turned my head and saw his father waving at me by the window with a smile on his face. The setting sun was shining on the window；the smile on the old man's face had warmed my heart.

4.Six Members of the Standing Committee of the CPC Center in Shenyang Aircraft Factory

February 13th in 1958 was a day of both happiness and disappointment for Xiao Shufang, by then a young female worker in Shenyang Aircraft Factory.

Fifty-four years had passed since that day. Though the grey-haired Xiao Shufang did not look like the young woman, beautiful and outgoing, called“the butterfly”in the factory, she remembered everything happened on that day.

It was the first fine morning after several gloomy days. The snow that had covered the city of Shenyang had stopped.The morning sun was rising behind the poplar trees, looking like a red lantern that shone auspiciously over thousands of workers in Shenyang Aircraft Factory.

Xiao Shufang stopped to read the weather forecast from the blackboard outside her dormitory. The temperature was below-20 Celsius Degree, but she knew that the heart of every worker in her factory was warmed by hope and excitement.

Xiao Shufang walked towards her workshop on the snow-covered road and saw her fellow female workers. Everyone had a smile, as bright as the sun, on her face.Everyone was waiting for the exciting moment to come.

Before she arrived at her No. 34 Workshop, she noticed the guards dividing the workshop from its neighboring ones with a rope.The director made an announcement about the visit from an orient great man.They had picked No.34 Workshop of final assemble.Everyone of the factory was busy cleaning away the snow from the roads.People in No.34 workshop spent one full day cleaning up their worshop and everyone was required to stay in their position and do the routine job.When asked a question, she or he must give a decent answer.No one was allowed to make a scene on the day to compromise the“image”of the factory.

Though she did not know which leader was coming, Xiao Shufang heard talk from her colleagues that Chairman Mao himself would be there, too.

It would have been the most blissful encounter ever！Xiao Shufang had been dreaming of meeting Chairman Mao.

Therefore, she left her dormitory and arrived at the workshop earlier than usual. She sat in her chair next to the production line and waited for the happiest moment of her life.

She waited and waited, yet there was no sight of Chairman Mao's car. Xiao Shufang took a look at her watch—it was 3 pm.

At last, a Soviet Union-made limousine car came out of Liaoning Hotel and drove towards Shenyang Aircraft Factory to inspect a legendary model of industrial production in the PRC.

The legendary model was the J-5 fighter jet derived from the Soviet MiG-15 that ruled“the MiG Alley，”a northwestern portion of Korea named after the jet's absolute dominance on the battlefield.

At the start of the Korean War, the Chinese Air Force was in its enfant steps, struggling to tackle the attack from the powerful group of American F-86 Saber. The American army's advantage in the sky had brought major casualty to Chinese People's Volunteer Army with large-scale bombarding.The Chinese army had to hide its trace during the day and march during the night with no lighting.Many trucks were caught in accidents in the deep valleys and steep mountains.

The Soviet Union Air Force's participation in the war had changed the dynamics in the sky above the battlefields. MiG-15 had brought fierce competition in front of F-86.The young Chinese Air Force, throughout the Korean War, had brought down more than 330 American combat jets alongside the Soviet Union Army's record of 1309.The name“MiG Alley”represented the strong defense power brought by the two troops.Nevertheless, a high price was paid by both China and the Soviet Union—116 Chinese pilots and 120 Soviet Union pilots died in the war.They were buried in the ancient land of China.

The victory of MiG-15 over the American Air Force had made its reputation. According to the 156 Joint High-Tech Projects listed in the cooperation agreement between China and the Soviet Union, production lines were built in the then Shenyang Aircraft Factory in Beiling in Shenyang.At the same time, the factory started its hard work in building a derived model using the J-5 production line.Chairman Mao was very interested in the silver falcons of Chinese Air Force produced through an almost full imitation.He demanded a visit to the modern factory that made the jets.When the completely Chinese-made J-6 jet successfully had its first flight, Mao was so pleased that he simply must visit Shenyang Aircraft Factory.

Workers in the factory, after years of expectations, eventually had Chairman Mao amongst them.

On that special day, the limousine car made a loud noise on the snow-covered road that sounded like the most majestic symphony. It stopped in front of the final assemble workshop.Stepping out of the limousine, Chairman Mao's figure was even taller than a mountain in the eyes of the workers.Everyone waiting in front of the workshop burst into happy cries，“Long live Chairman Mao！Long Live Chairman Mao！”

Xiao Shufang felt a little bit dizzy when she heard the happy voices from outside. The most important moment in her life was stepping towards her.She was from a poor family in a rural village near Dalian and she did not have any proper education before the founding of the PRC.She was admitted into Shenyang No.22 Technology Institute in 1956.She graduated after merely one year and was given the job in the final assemble workshop in Shenyang Aircraft Factory.She had only thought that her opportunity of meeting Chairman Mao would be in her dreams.

The day before the official visit, Secretary of the Party Committee Wang Qigong told them that no one should raise his or her head during the inspection and that everyone should just do their job. Nevertheless, she could feel her heart racing as she heard people crying“Long Live Chairman.Mao”She would have done anything to have the opportunity to raise her head and look at Chairman Mao.But she did not dare.

The Chairman walked past her seat and stopped in front of the recently assembled J-6. The cockpit window was opened.Chairman Mao, wearing a bonnet hat and a dark tweed coat, happily stepped up the staircase and looked into the cockpit.At that moment, Xiao Shufang finally raised her head and saw the great leader of her nation from almost 200 meters away.She burst into tears with excitement.

The year before she joined Shenyang Aircraft Factory, Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping, two members of the Standing Committee of the CPC Center, had visited the factory. Chairman Mao's trip was probably a result of their positive feedbacks.

Xiao Shufang wiped her tears off and continued working. That evening she came back to her dormitory and received a telegraph from her hometown.Her father passed away when Chairman Mao was visiting her workshop.She felt her bliss intervened with great sorrow.She hid her head in her blanket and cried all night.

However, J-6 did not meet all criteria. For three consecutive years the jets were sent back to the factory for major maintenance.The Central Military Commission was not pleased by the situation.Commander in Chief Zhu De and Marshal He Long both visited the factory with Kliment Voroshilov, Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet.According to Deputy Supervisory Engineer Ma Junsheng, He Long arrived after Zhu De and Voroshilov left.He was wearing a Zhongshan suit and a tall hat as he stepped on top of the wing of J-6.He drew a line on top of the wing with his cane and stared at the engineers，“This was cut in half！Four hundred jets were sent back to your factory and the central government is paying for that！What is wrong with you all here?”

The Marshal's sharp words were hurtful in the ears of young workers including Xiao Shufang and Ma Junsheng, who had just graduated from Beijing College of Aeronautics. However, the problem-solving was not progressing quick enough.Both of them remembered that Premier Zhou Enlai and his wife Ms.Deng Yingchao both came to the factory to inspect their work.They brought encouraging words and cautions.

Xiao Shufang and Ma Junsheng were both young during the time. Both of them joined the factory around the year 1956.In their memories, the premier's visit was on a sunny day on June 13th in 1962.Workers stood in front of the factory gate to welcome the premier with smiles, flowers and happy music played from the drums and gongs.However, if one paid attention, it could be seen that there was no smile on his face.

Xiao Shufang did not join the welcoming group. Instead, she was working in her workshop.She remembered how the premier walked into No.37 Workshop at 10 am that morning, accompanied by Secretary of the Party Committee Wang Qigong and the director of the factory.The premier stopped next to her.Xiao Shufang found herself gazing at his carefully trimmed beard.The premier asked her，“How old are you?Which school did you go to before working here?”Xiao Shufang was too excited to answer.Her lips were shaking.

“Don't be nervous！”said the premier as a smile lit his face. The director of the factory answered on her behalf.

The premier again asked her whether the security check officer in the factory worked on a full-time term. Xiao Shufang was too afraid of making any mistake with her answer.She could only gaze upon the premier's friendly face until he left with his wife.

Ma Junsheng was busy delivering documents in the factory that day when he heard the premier was visiting No. 34 Workshop.His supervisor said to him，“Ma Junsheng, don't work on the delivery anymore.There is still one empty seat in the workshop.You should go.Just answer the premier's questions.”

Ma Junsheng nodded. Though he had only worked in the factory for less than six years, he knew well about the problems of J-6.A hundred J-6 jets were produced after Chairman Mao's visit.However, for three years, those jets with shaking tail assembly units had been sent back to the factory.The tail assembly unit should be stabilizing the plane during take-offs and landings.They had produced fight jets that wouldn't fly.

Premier Zhou Enlai came with questions about J-6's problems. He asked in a tone quite different from his usual gentle style，“Even during the most difficult times, our people had saved their money to support national defense.In return, you have produced 100 planes that are now nothing more than a pile of wastes！”

The director and Secretary of the Party Committee were speechless. Out of great embarrassment, they apologized and said that no effort was spared in looking for the cause of problems.

The lace on the premier's shoe was loose.

Wang Qigong bowed and said，“Comrade Premier, let me tie the lace for you.”

“No need！”said the premier as he waved his hand.“I can do it myself.”He bowed down to tie his shoe lace. When he walked to the door, he saw a lot of people standing outside.

The premier asked，“What is this for?”

Wang Qigong answered，“They are all waiting to see you！”

“See me?What can I do for them?”said the premier as he shook his head. He sounded slightly upset.“It is everyone of you here that people should be looking at now.We all want to see if you can save J-6 from its failure.Comrade Wang Qigong, with all the money saved from the most difficult time of our nation put into your productions, how could you sleep at night knowing the one-year production had turned into three years of maintenance?”

Wang Qigong quickly responded，“Comrade Premier, we did not do our job well. We had disappointed the central government and the people.”

Everyone heard the premier's strict words. Premier Zhou Enlai knew perfectly about the challenges faced by the workers—they were attempting to build an industrial center out of nothing.But he also knew that the factory must stand straight in front of any challenge.

The premier left the factory, and the workers were left in regret and embarrassment.

The old Chinese idiom says：an army burning with righteous indignation is bound to win. Leaders and workers in Shenyang Aircraft Factory were determined to fight together.Eventually the problem was solved：the unbalanced booster was adjusted through improvement of the aircraft designation system.

Ma Junsheng knew very well about the development of J-6 and J-7 as Deputy Supervisory Engineer. He told me that there was no other jet model like J-6，which had such an influence in the headquarters of the CPC and the State Council government that groups of leaders would visit the factory one after another.The visits were great encouragement for the workers in solving their problems.Six out of seven members of the Standing Committee of the CPC Center had visited here.No precedence could be found in any other company in China.

Chinese workers never ceased making miracles in 1950s and 1960s. Xiao Shufang was proud of her colleagues in Shenyang Aircraft Factory because they had not disappointed the hopes from Chairman Mao, Premier Zhou Enlai, Liu Shaoqi, Deng Xiaoping and Commander in Chief Zhu De by solving the problem of J-6.The model enjoyed the largest production in China and had equipped most troops in the country.It was also the only fighter jet that had participated in actual combat.J-6 flown by Pakistani pilots played a crucial role against the Indian combat jets during the two India-Pakistan Wars.It was known as“Queen of the Sky”and represented the highest technical level of derived models of MiG.

5.The Strength of Workers

The rise of the industrial base had brought new opportunities of urbanization to peasants that had lived for generations in rural areas in Northeast China.

Wang Chunxiang was only 15 in 1950. He was the apprentice of his father, the village's carpener in rural Jinzhou.On a spring day, they received a letter from Shenyang.His father gave the letter to him and asked him to find the teacher in the village to read the letter to them.

Wang Chunxiang found the teacher, who was taken by surprise of the sender，“It's from your uncle.”

“No way！”said his father as he jumped out of the brick bed, fully shocked.“His uncle was taken by the Manchukuon army and no one has seen him ever after. They say he was killed during the war.His wife has already remarried.From which corner of the world is he writing from?”

The village teacher pointed at the letter，“He is alive！It's true. He wrote on the letter that he is quite well-off.He's now a leader in the artillery army of the Liberation Army in Shenyang.”

“Really?He's in Shenyang?He's a leader now?”

“Yes，”said the village teacher.“He is now in charge of delivering canons to Korea. He wrote to ask Chunxiang to join him in Shenyang.The government is developing an industrial base there, in Tiexi.All the factories are recruiting.”

“You should go！”Father had lived his life as a carpenter traveling from village to village in the rural area. He told Wang Chunxiang to go to Shenyang and work in one of the factories.

That night his mother made him flat cakes of sorghum and prepared for his clothes and money for the trip.

The sun rose as usual the next morning. The path in the fields was bathed in the sunshine.Corns on both sides of the path had sprouted and reached the height of a man's knee.Cooking fires were started in the neighborhood.After the roosters had crowed, Wang Chunxiang took a last look at his hometown and strode on the road.

His father went with him to the coach station. Before sending his son on the bus, he patted his shoulder and said，“Try to learn more from your master in the factory.You must work hard.Your skills will be your true advantages！”

Wang Chunxiang finally arrived at Shenyang and found his uncle in a warehouse of the army.

“Go work as an apprentice in Shenyang No. 4 Machine Factory！”said his uncle.He recommended him to the factory, which later became Shenyang Blower Works Factory, located on North 4th Street in Tiexi.

Wang Chunxiang took a stroll around the factory. He was disappointed by what he saw.The factory did not look as modern as he had imagined：it was left here by its Japanese founder and was used as a horse ranch of the Kuomintang army before the founding of the PRC.

After the liberation of Shenyang, the horse ranch was named Shenyang No. 4 Machine Factory.There were no more than 500 people working in the factory to produce mine carts.Wang Chunxiang walked inside the workshop and saw only seven belted machine tools and one crane with a dozen leather belts on top.The other workshop powered by coals was covered in smoke.

His master Song Fuyu was as old as he was. He asked，“Are you disappointed?”

“No！”said Wang Chunxiang as he shook his head.“This is paradise compared to the rural village I came from.”

“Why?”

“I can eat until I am full here！”answered Wang Chunxiang.“There is also electric lamps, telephones and tall buildings. That's the communist paradise！”

His master laughed and said，“Tiexi is paradise. Though we are working under this situation now, there will soon be enough bread and potatoes for all.There will also be modernized machine tools.There are only hundreds of us in the factory.But in the future, we will be joined by thousands more and the factory will become one of those large ones on North 2nd Street.”

Standing inside of the deserted site of a factory, the passionate worker Song Fuyu painted a picture of paradise for Wang Chunxiang.

Wang Chunxiang decided to stay and work as the apprentice of Song Fuyu. He started as a fitter, then worked with the machine tools.He passed every seasonal examination and went to get proper education in a night school.The factory built several dormitory buildings on 9th Road during the time.

Wang Chunxiang was young, clever and hardworking. He would not go anywhere without a wire cutter and a caliper in his hands.After the third seasonal examination, he raised to Rank 3 technician and started working independently.Mine carts produced by him were exempt from examination and his schedule had always been full.He was one of the leading workers in the factory.He could earn 38 points every month, which equaled to 25 Yuan per month.

He went back to Jinzhou for the first Chinese New Year after he started working in the factory. Wang Chunxiang bought himself a pair of new sports shoes and brought home two bottles of beer he got in the factory.His father had one sip and threw the bottle away.He claimed that it tasted like“horse piss.”

His sister knew that Father was not in a good mood, so she asked Wang Chunxiang to go outside. She said to him，“I have these two bottles of rice wine.You give them to dad.You should also go buy some fish and meat for the Chinese New Year's meal.”

Wang Chunxiang had some money during the time. So he went to the city of Jinzhou and bought chicken, duck, fish and meat from Jinzhou Seafood Company.The family gathered together for a happy Chinese New Year's meal.

The delicious smell of cooked fish floated in the air in the village. All the neighbors were jealous of the Wang family's good time，“Chunxiang is indeed a good boy！He is so young and earns that much money！What a good son to have！”

Wang Chunxiang held his head high in pride when he walked around the village.

After the Chinese New Year, before he went back to Shenyang, young people in the village gathered together and said to him，“Take us with you！We want to become workers in the city. We want to live in paradise.”

“My neighbors, I don't have the right to decide this！”said Wang Chunxiang as he shook his head.“The decisions are made by leaders of the factory. But I will make sure to let you know whenever the factory is recruiting again.”

Wang Chunxiang was the youngest amongst the 30 newly employed workers. But he was also the most capable one.Soon after he started working independently, he became a master himself and started training apprentices.

At the end of 1952，the factory made the plan to transfer some workers to support other factories. Wang Chunxiang's name was on the list.A big truck was driven into the factory to take the workers lining up outside the workshops.His master Song Fuyu did not want to see him leave.Wang Chunxiang himself was reluctant, too.He had never forgotten about the future paradise his master told him about.

Song Fuyu thought of something，“Maybe you can find a way out of this. You should find a place to hide yourself.”

“Where should I hide?”

“In the tool box！”

“But the keys are held by Supervisor Song.”

The name itself gave him hope. Supervisor Song's full name was Song Fuzeng.He was the elder brother of Song Fuyu.

Song Fuyu found his brother and said to him，“Wang Chunxiang does not want to leave. I want him to stay here, too.”

“What are you thinking?”

“We can find him a place to hide before the truck leaves.”

“In the empty workshop?”

“In the tool box.”

“Good idea！”said Song Fuzeng as he opened the tool box with the key on his belt. He let Wang Chunxiang inside.

Names were being called in front of the workshop. Those called must get in the truck.

His name was called out by Head of Human Resources，“Wang Chunxiang！”

There was no response. Workers started looking for him in the crowd.Someone said，“I just saw him around before we lined up.”

“Is Wang Chunxiang here?”His name was called several times more.

There was still no response.

“Just call out the next name！People are waiting here，”said the Director.“We'll see when he shows up.”

Eventually, the truck left without Wang Chunxiang.

“You can come out now！You are safe！”His master and Supervisor Song opened the tool box for him.

Wang Chunxiang jumped out immediately. At the age of 16，he managed to stay in the factory.A future national Model Worker was therefore kept in Shenyang Blower Works.

At the end of that year, he sent 300 Yuan back to his family. It was a large number in the rural village by then.His father, with the abundance of cash, purchased a piece of farmland with young crops.However, during the cooperative transformation of agriculture, the farmland was recognized with public ownership.His father wrote a letter to complain to him.Wang Chunxiang borrowed 100 Yuan from his fellow workers and sent to his father again to show his support.

In 1953 the agreement of technology cooperation was signed between China and the Soviet Union. Some of the 156 projects included were designated to the city of Shenyang, one of which was air blower technology in the little known No.4 Machine Factory.Equipment and technology books from the Soviet Union were shipped to North 4th Street, initiating a large scale renovation of the factory.In June 1955，experts from the Soviet Union arrived at Tiexi.Wang Chunxiang, at the age of 18，was already a famous top worker in the district.Bian Yannian, Head of Equipment in the factory, used to work in the factory in Manchukuo.He had a very high standard for Wang Chunxiang, and influenced him as much as Song Fuyu did.Bian Yannian devoted much time and attention to the training and had been quite strict to his apprentice.The old machine tool in the workshop was powered by a single worn leather belt, which had caused much trouble in production.Wang Chunxiang added an extra leather belt and had worked twice as efficient ever since.However, he cut his hand when using his new invention and the Union's office had forbidden him from causing another“accident.”Master Bian agreed with the Union office's decision.However, every night after Master Bian left work, Wang Chunxiang would start working with two leather belts on his own.He was capable of producing almost 70 steel poles per day, a record that had earned credit from the factory.

Wang Chunxiang was greatly encouraged by his success. He found it difficult to fall asleep every time he was assigned with a new project.He would lie in bed, thinking about the tools to use in various production plans.The next day he would produce parts that were a lot more refined than the others.

Months later, experts from the Soviet Union arrived with the technology and advanced tools used to produce the main axis of D1100 air blower. Everything they brought was of top confidentiality and no Chinese worker had had any chance to even approach them.Even supervisory engineers and technicians had to observe the experts'work from a distance behind a red line next to the production line.Wang Chunxiang was too young to be allowed the opportunity to watch.The tools were under special supervision of the experts during production.Guards were assigned to keep the secret when the tools were not used.One expert from the Soviet Union told them that anyone that could produce the D1100 in the great nation of the Soviet Union would earn a Lenin Medal.

Wang Chunxiang was excited to learn more. He was confident that in three months, given the opportunity, he would be able to produce D1100.

It was a shame that no air blower was produced in the factory before 1958 when all Soviet Union experts left the country. It was the time when the cold air from Siberia made China shiver.In 1959，the friendship between China and the Soviet Union broke, the agreement was torn apart and all blueprints were taken away.

The workers trusted in their own strength. They were dis-appointed to find that“the Big Brother”had abandoned them.Wang Chunxiang recounted his memories to me，“Association of Technicians was established on every level：in the factory, in the city and the province.Everyone was working to progress our technologies ourselves.”

During the time, Wang Chunxiang had already been awarded the title of factory and municipal model worker. He was naturally one of the leading workers.In order to produce a proper air blower, machine tools must be used to manufacture the main axis of D700 and D1100.D700 was a single axis and D1100 was double.Wang Chunxiang had experience with the former yet not the latter.He had only heard of the process from the Soviet experts.

Mr. An, Head of Technology Development of the factory asked him，“Wang, can you work with D1100?”

“I have never done it before. But I'd like to try.”

“Good！Workers in the PRC will face any challenge in front of them！”An was a man of great determination—he was a soldier before he worked in the factory. He patted on Wang Chunxiang's shoulder and said，“I can't offer you the Lenin Medal if you succeed.But I will recommend that they award you the title of national model worker.”

Wang Chunxiang saw trust in the encouraging eyes of Mr. An.He returned to the workshop and took out the tools.He spent several days studying the main axis of D1100 before he made a full success.

From then on, Wang Chunxiang was put responsible for the production of every important axis project. He did his job in an efficient, refined way so that nothing would go to waste.The factory made its production quota every month.Wang Chunxiang would work overtime in his workshop and finish a full month's quota in half a month.

It was the year of the PRC's 10th anniversary parade when Wang Chunxiang was awarded the title of national model worker. Apart from attending the National Conference of Model Workers and Heroes in Beijing, he was invited to climb on top of the viewing platform of Tian'anmen and watch the parade underneath to be inspected by the first generation of leaders in the PRC.

Later on, Wang Chunxiang was selected as a member of the provincial group of model workers and visited the Soviet Union and some East European countries. He had visited, alongside famous model workers such as Wei Fengying and Wang Chonglun, many countries of the Warsaw Pact including the Soviet Union, Poland, Czechoslovakia, East Germany and Romania.

Wang Chunxiang found both his fame and love of his life in his factory after he returned. He married Gu Guilan, a local young woman from the city of Jinzhou.She was tall, fit and elegant.Her grandfather and father both worked as accountants.She was also sent to Jinzhou Chemical Engineering School to study accountancy.Many Soviet Union experts were her admirers.But she did not have her eyes on any of them.She met Wang Chunxiang in a report series of model workers and married him later on.

Decades had past before Wang Chunxiang's daughter Wang Yingjie was known as the five female workers that contributed greatly to innovation in Shenyang Blower Works Factory. She had asked her mother why she chose to marry her father, who did not even graduate from primary school, instead of the tall, handsome Russians that chased after her.Her mother smiled, looking as beautiful and tender as her younger self, and said，“Your father is a man with responsibilities.He is a Party member and a great technician.He was the model of his time.”

Wang Yingjie laughed and said，“So that's the standard of an ideal man during the age of passion and heroes.”

Love, family and the destiny of the nation were three intervened themes of their time.

In 1960，the first Chinese-made compressor was produced in Shenyang. No.4 Machine Factory had changed its name to Shenyang Fan Factory, and Shenyang Blower Works Factory three years later.There were 5，000 people working in the factory by then.Wang Chunxiang's dream of a new age of industrialization was coming true.

The bright future of paradise in the factory, an ideal picture painted by his young master Song, had become the reality.

6.A Family of Steel in the Age of Passion

I felt disappointed when walking out of the house of the family introduced to me through my connections in Ansteel Group. The former production supervisor's experience was as thin as himself.I could not piece together the long history of Ansteel simply from what he had told me.I was almost begging when I asked Mr.Zhang, deputy Head of Publicity of the Party Committee in Ansteel, to set up more interviews with a worker's family.

Mr. Zhang probably had evaluated my ability of destroying the reputation of his company after having meals with me and sitting next to me during the interview.He asked Deputy Director Liu to go with me to talk with the supervisor and workers in the workshop of the blast furnace.

I was overwhelmed by my excitement to talk with smelting workers.

The business van, with Deputy Director Liu leading the way, stopped in front of the the new No. 1 blast furnace.The company kept the old No.1 blast furnace built during the Manchukuon time though it was not in use anymore.Deputy Director Liu explained to me，“The new No.1 blast furnace was built by us Chinese.”

I stepped inside but found no worker standing next to the blast, furnace to work in the old way. No one was stirring the fire or pouring molten iron.Technicians and engineers sat in the operation room protected by clear windows.Data of the production process were shown on big screens.The age of steel that I knew had passed.

However, it was the past that I wanted to touch and feel the passion.

Zhao Desheng, supervisor of No. 1 blast furnace, fulfilled my wish.He was sitting aside to listen to the Party Branch Secretary He Liang talk about how much he had wished to become a worker in Ansteel and how his father chose a life in the steel industry over his established career as a professor.

I looked at Zhao Desheng when He Liang was telling his story. Zhao was a tall man that reminded me of the furnace he worked with.His figure fit my imagination of a traditional steel worker.However, after he eloquently told his story, I realized that he was actually an intelligent man.He was a university student in the Department of Smelting and Foundry in Northeastern University and joined Ansteel after his graduation.

“All three generations in my family worked in Ansteel！”said Zhao Desheng. His grandfather, father and three uncles all worked in Ansteel.Zhao Desheng was the third generation worker in the company.The passion and dreams of steel workers ran in his veins.

Zhao Desheng started telling me the stories of the era of steel he heard from his grandfather.

Ansteel had a history of 100 years. In 1909 after Japan's victory in the Russo-Japanese War, Japanese engineers carried out a series of illegal explorations and discovered a great mineral reserve in the area of Anshan.

An abundance of iron was buried underneath the land of dragon.

Businessmen from Japan arrived in a haste after sniffing the profit. However, despite the decline of the Qing Dynasty, the area was still under strict regulation.Even Chinese adventurers that had traveled all the way from Shandong, Hebei and Henan were not allowed to approach Anshan.The Manchuria Anshan Steel Company, founded by a Japanese businessman, was the only company that acquired the royal permission to mine the area in cooperation with the imperial court.Hidden under the cover of the joint venture of Sino-Japanese Zhenxing Steel Company, the Japanese government took control of the much coveted iron mine in the area.

The Japanese government had laid its eyes on the land of Northeast China since longer before. After the Japanese invation in 1931 of Northeast China, the Zhenxing mine of Anshan had fallen completely under Japanese control.In 1937，Showa Steel Works became the power behind it and shared its dominance with South Manchuria Railways Company.Showa Steel Works produced 800，000 tons of steel which supported the Japanese army on battlefields in East Asia and the Pacific.The American army conducted a series of firebombing raids in Anshan as well to destroy the Japanese army's steel production while bombing Tokyo during the Pacific campaigns of World War II.

The take-over army of Kuomintang ran Ansteel for a year and a half after the recovery of Northeast China yet nothing was successfully produced during the period. Ansteel returned to the hands of the people after the liberation of Anshan on February 19th in 1948.Seo Kiyozo, technical advisor of Ansteel during the time when Ansteel was run by kuomintang, made the assertion that the Communist Party of China could never resume the production in Ansteel due to a lack of technicians and equipment.He also said that the site of Ansteel would become a field of sorghums after the PRC's failure in industrialization.

The assertion was made out of arrogance. Director Chai Shufan from CPC's Northeast China Bureau made the determination to change the situation.Chairman Mao made a phone call to the Burbeau from the CPC Center in Xibaipo and demanded the resumption of production in Ansteel.The biggest challenge lied in the lack of equipment and technicians.The Soviet Union army dissembled most of the equipment and some workers in the mine took the parts of the machines away.Those taken by the army could not be returned, yet it was still possible to ask the local workers to give back what they took.After a long period of humiliation and slavery under the Manchukuon reign, local workers were happy to co-operate.The Northeast China Bureau had requested to Chairman Mao and the central government for a nationwide campaign to attract specialists to join Ansteel.Even the experts and overseas specialists that used to work for the Japanese and the Kuomintang government were seen as the most important talents.

The young PRC officials had shown great confidence in front of those talents. Their appreciation had attracted many of them to join the career in Ansteel.

Yang Shutang and Li Songtang were among these experts.

The two of them were both from noble families and were sent to the West to study the technology of steel production. They represented the very few experts in the area during the early days of the PRC.

Chai Shufan gave the two of them great confirmation，“Good！You choose to stand beside the people and now you are supporters of the PRC. You are true patriots！”

He called the Bureau and appointed Yang Shutang and Li Songtang as Supervisor of Technology.

Other experts and technicians that were worried about their future in the state-owned company saw hopes in Yang Shutang and Li Songtang. Therefore, more and more important talents stayed for the future of Ansteel, including Seo Kiyozo, the technical advisor that made the assertion against industrialization in China.

It was a time of idealists and people would follow the passionate call of their young leaders. Officials in the Liberation Army, in their fading uniforms, visited every neighborhood in the area to persuade workers to return the machines they took.Meng Tai was one of the members of a worker-organized association that voluntarily gave back the machines.

Meng Tai's acts had influenced many others. Zhao Desheng's grandfather, Zhao Shouchang, also joined the association and went looking for deserted machine parts hidden and buried underneath the grass and snow in the rural area.

Undercover agents and spies of Kuomintang had the plan to blow up the equipment left in Ansteel and stop the communist government from producing steel. Meng Tai decided to guard the factory by sleeping in front of the blast furnaces as he worked overtime to mend and upgrade the equipment.

Zhao Desheng's grandfather joined his young colleagues in the factory to prepare for the resumption of production.

On June 26th in 1949，No. 2 blast furnace in Ansteel was restarted.On the second day, the first furnace of molten iron was produced.

Seo Kiyozo's assertion proved wrong. He himself was amazed，“The people of China！Once you stand up on your own feet, nothing is impossible！”

Nevertheless, the production was made with outdated technology passed down from the Manchukuon period.

During the first Five-year Plan, three of the 156 cooperated projects between China and the Soviet Union were designated to be carried out in Ansteel. In order to support the implementation of projects, the central government sent more than 500 soldiers and local leaders to join the workers in Ansteel.They were known by then as“the 500 arhats to Ansteel.”

The three projects in Ansteel had resulted in the construction of No. 7 blast furnace, the steel rolling mill and the seamless steel tube plant in 1953 known as the three historical constructions of Ansteel.Chairman Mao was quite pleased by the achievement and sent out a congratulating telegraph，“I was pleased to hear the completion of Ansteel's three major constructions.It is an important step of China's industrialization.It is an honor of the PRC.I therefore send you my sincere congratulations.”

Ansteel produced more than half of the overall steel production in China during the first and second Five-year Plan.

In 1958，the famous Comrade Lei Feng joined the workers in Ansteel to support the career of steel. He used the name Lei Zhenxing and went to the main factory of Ansteel before he was transferred to a mine in the deep mountain of Gongchang.He spent three years working for Ansteel before he changed his name to Lei Feng and became an army chauffeur in Fushun Automotive Troop under the PLA Shenyang Military Area Command.His experience in Ansteel had a great influence on his character.His gentle, kind and selflessness had much to do with the period of time spent in Ansteel as well.

Meng Tai was as famous in the country as Lei Feng in 1960s. He had been received as a guest by Chairman Mao over a dozen times.

During the 60th anniversary of the founding of the PRC, two former workers'names in Ansteel were listed amongst the 100 outstanding Chinese in the project“Touching China.”Lei Feng and Meng Tai were the representatives of the spirit of Ansteel.

Wang Chonglun was yet another hero that walked out of Ansteel. He was known as“the man faster than time.”He himself upgraded the production tools that greatly enhanced efficiency in the factory.He had finished the working quota of more than four years in merely one year's time, therefore was called by Chairman Mao as“model of the youths.”The famous national model worker later took the position of Secretary of Harbin Municipal Party Committee and Vice Chairman of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions.

After the break-off of the Sino-Soviet Union friendship, the Soviet Union violated the agreement and took away their experts. It had caused major difficulties in Ansteel's innovation plan.However, the company proposed a new plan which encouraged administrative officers to participate in the production and put workers to the management positions in order to enhance efficiency in the factories.Workers, administrative officers and technicians were brought together and greatly improved the situation of Ansteel.The new plan was surveyed and reported to the central government.Chairman Mao was quite pleased with the result.On March 22nd in 1960，he wrote down 613 words, remarking the Ansteel way as“The Constitution of Ansteel.”

“The Constitution of Ansteel”was a widely known phrase in China during its time. Ansteel, through its constant innovation, had become a flagship of technology and industrial innovation in the PRC.

During the period of time, Zhao Desheng's father, Zhao Encheng, was discharged from China Air Force and returned home. He was a reserve combat jet pilot and had passed all examinations.However, according to the army's background survey, his great aunt was married into a family of lord proprietors.Therefore, his qualification was denied and he had to work as a member of the ground crew in the Air Force base.After he was discharged, he started his life as a worker in the Ferroalloys Plant.

Zhao Desheng's elder uncle Zhao Enkuan was sent to Ningxia in Northwest China during the“Up to the Mountains and Down to the Countryside”movement. He became a worker in Ansteel Wire Rope Factory.

Another uncle Zhao Ensen became a worker in Area 1 in Ansteel Steel Factory and lived his whole life there.

His aunt, after spending her youth in Panjin, also returned to Ansteel and worked in the former Department of Fuel.

His youngest uncle also worked in the former Department of Fuel in Ansteel. After the corporate restructuring, he worked in the Warefare Department in Ansteel Worker Support Center.The fate of everyone in the family was connected deeply with the destiny of Ansteel, the aircraft carrier of China's steel industry.

注释

[1]dou—decaliter, a unit of dry measure for grain.