Hidden Valley
20 mins 17 secs
Waterfall/River Music 02:00
Anna with parents CAMPBELL: When seven-year-old Anna goes to school, she doesnt pack textbooks, she takes a rope and harness. 02:19
Ann leaves for school After a steep climb down a muddy slope, she and her friends must cross a dangerous, fast-flowing river. 02:33
Anna crosses river Like most villages here, the families cant afford to build a footbridge, so the children have to slide across by cable. 02:45
Annas grandfather Erkai comes along to make sure she gets there safely.China may have put a man in space, but these folk have more modest dreams. 03:03
Erkai ERKAI: The village has two big hopes. One is a bridge to help us cross the river -- so that the children can get to school more easily. The other is electricity so the villagers can watch TV. 03:27
Workers in fields Music 03:54
CAMPBELL: The villagers are ethnic Lisu -- one of the poorest, most forgotten and most extraordinary communities in China. 04:02
Theyve lived in these remote river valleys near Tibet for perhaps a thousand years, speaking their own language and following their own customs. Despite centuries of Chinese rule, it feels like a different country. 04:13
Bu Shi Bu Shi, with just 84 residents, is typical of the isolation. 04:41
Visitors are rare, tourists non-existent and nobody gets in without help.
This side of the river has the road and village store as well as the school. 05:04
But most of the village has always lived on the other side. For generations, they used a bamboo rope to cross. The 1960s brought a wire cable.
Campell crossing riverSuper: Eric Campbell CAMPBELL: It might be fun the first time but this is what most people here have to do every day of their lives. Half a century after the Revolution, villages like this still lack basic amenities. Beyond Chinas booming cities, the reality in the countryside -- particularly for ethnic minorities -- is that life is as hard as the land is beautiful. 05:36
Erkai tilling soil Music
CAMPBELL: Most of the Lisu scratch a living from small plots of land on the hillside. Erkai is the elected village leader, but that doesnt give him any privileges. He and his wife, Anni, can barely survive on the corn and barley they grow. 06:22
ERKAI: Its very hard to make money in the village. People stay at home doing farm work when its the busy time, but in their spare time they go out looking for jobs to support their families. 06:48
Anni grinding corn in ceremonial dress CAMPBELL: But poverty doesnt stop their hospitality. 07:15
Anni put on her full ceremonial dress for our visit to their home -- a simple, bamboo hut they built themselves. Its also home to two pigs, a herd of goats, several chickens and their granddaughter, Anna.
Erkai cutting chicken Before we knew what was happening, Erkai slaughtered one of his precious chickens for us. Anni spends every spare hour trying to supplement their meagre income, making traditional mats and bags to earn a few dollars at market. 07:49
Anni weaving ANNI: We, the Lisu women, have the tradition of weaving mattresses and cloth. If a Lisu woman cant weave mattresses and cloth, she will not be respected by others. 08:07
River Music
Man sharpening tools CAMPBELL: The Lisu have little access to the Chinas new economy of export manufacturing and high-rise construction. The only jobs near the village are low-paid labouring work. Its a common problem in rural China. But the Lisu have an added problem. 08:39
School children Like many of Chinas 56 minority groups, few speak any Chinese. The national language, Mandarin, is as incomprehensible to them as their own language is to the rest of China. 09:02
Principal PRINCIPAL: Mandarin is the common language in China, and Chinas 5,000-year history is recorded in Mandarin characters. So students must study Mandarin so they can develop and communicate with people outside in the future. 09:20
Children in school ground CAMPBELL: At the village school, children learn Mandarin as a foreign language. Its not only their one hope of finding jobs -- the authorities see it as a way to promote national unity. 09:43
Children at assembly Once a week, they raise the flag of the Peoples Republic and sing the national anthem. [children sing] 10:05
Yu Zanzong is the ethnic Lisu principal. 10:31
Principal PRINCIPAL: I know little about the situation before Liberation -- but from some books I know that education before Liberation was very bad. 10:35
Children in classroom CAMPBELL: The first hour is spent reciting Mandarin Even the teachers sometimes struggle with the words, switching back to Lisu so the children can follow. The three teachers are dedicated, but they lack even basic resources. Most of the children have never even seen a computer. Our visit was the first time theyd seen a digital camera. 10:56
Campbell takes photo of children Campbell: One, two, three!
Children in class CAMPBELL: The children are guaranteed free tuition until the age of 11. But its still a struggle for the parents to find money for books, even shoes. 11:47
PRINCIPAL: After graduating from primary school, some students cant afford further education because it is financially too difficult for the families. 12:06
CAMPBELL: Thats a problem Annas family is already facing. 12:26
Anni takes drink to Erkai While Erkai looks sprightly, hes battling ill-health.ANNI: He cant do very hard farm work. Even with all the difficulties in the family, I have to allow my granddaughter 12:34
Anni weaving to finish school. I will overcome all the difficulties to allow her to stay in school as long as possible. 12:49
Baptist church CAMPBELL: Frustrations with life on Earth have led many to look for rewards in heaven. Eighty per cent of the Lisu are Baptist Christians. Missionaries came to the area a century ago, devising a Lisu script to translate the Bible. The congregations were repressed during the Cultural Revolution. But after 1981, when the Communists ban on religion was lifted, the entire village was baptised. __________* is their Baptist pastor.Pastor: Christians dont drink, fight or swear, 13:06
Pastor so they can be better united. And they also have a healthier and cleaner life. Although Lisu people here are very poor, their spiritual life is very rich. 13:43
Music
Village shots CAMPBELL: The central Government hasnt completely ignored their material needs. They built a road here in the 1960s and have now brought power to homes around the school,though not to the other side where most people live. 14:30
Villagers crossing bridge Anyone prepared to walk an extra hour can cross a rickety bridge built further down the river. But it doesnt feel much safer than the cable in the village. Most use it only once a week to carry goods to a nearby market. 14:52
This is the one place they can see some benefit from Chinas economic reforms.
Erkai at market ERKAI: Twenty years ago there werent any markets anywhere here. We were unable to sell the agricultural products we produced. Pigs, chickens and vegetables could not be sold anywhere. 15:23
Villagers watch TV at market CAMPBELL: But few can afford the new consumer goods like televisions or DVDs -- and dont have electricity for them anyway. 15:43
Erkai and friends drink home brew So, to the disapproval of their pastor, Erkai and his friends seek entertainment the old-fashioned way. 16:05
ERKAI: After being tired from farm work, it relaxes me to drink -- and its good for my health. So I stopped going to church.
CAMPBELL: Home-brewing is one of the oldest known traditions of the Lisu culture. At the end of a hard week, its the prelude to an afternoon of storytelling and songs. 16:33
Music
Erkai with family having meal CAMPBELL: But the changes taking place in the new China are straining the ties of this community. Anni and Erkai are bringing up their granddaughter after Annas mother abandoned her for the lure of the city. Theyre determined to raise Anna in the Lisu ways. 17:00
Anna on cable Music
ANNI We will pass this lifestyle on. A Lisu couple respects each other to bring harmony in the family. The man does what he has to do and the woman does what she has to do. They care about each other and take care of each other. 17:36
Erkai with children CAMPBELL: There is a rhythm to daily life here that has changed little in centuries. Revolution has come and gone with little effect. The benefits of capitalism have largely passed them by. As China marches ahead to economic and military might, the Lisu struggle to keep up with a world that is leaving them behind. 18:10
LOST VILLAGEReporter: Eric CampbellCamera: Matt JasperEditor: Simon BrynjolffssenResearch: Charles LiProducer: Inka Kretschmer
20 mins 17 secs
Waterfall/River Music 02:00
Anna with parents CAMPBELL: When seven-year-old Anna goes to school, she doesnt pack textbooks, she takes a rope and harness. 02:19
Ann leaves for school After a steep climb down a muddy slope, she and her friends must cross a dangerous, fast-flowing river. 02:33
Anna crosses river Like most villages here, the families cant afford to build a footbridge, so the children have to slide across by cable. 02:45
Annas grandfather Erkai comes along to make sure she gets there safely.China may have put a man in space, but these folk have more modest dreams. 03:03
Erkai ERKAI: The village has two big hopes. One is a bridge to help us cross the river -- so that the children can get to school more easily. The other is electricity so the villagers can watch TV. 03:27
Workers in fields Music 03:54
CAMPBELL: The villagers are ethnic Lisu -- one of the poorest, most forgotten and most extraordinary communities in China. 04:02
Theyve lived in these remote river valleys near Tibet for perhaps a thousand years, speaking their own language and following their own customs. Despite centuries of Chinese rule, it feels like a different country. 04:13
Bu Shi Bu Shi, with just 84 residents, is typical of the isolation. 04:41
Visitors are rare, tourists non-existent and nobody gets in without help.
This side of the river has the road and village store as well as the school. 05:04
But most of the village has always lived on the other side. For generations, they used a bamboo rope to cross. The 1960s brought a wire cable.
Campell crossing riverSuper: Eric Campbell CAMPBELL: It might be fun the first time but this is what most people here have to do every day of their lives. Half a century after the Revolution, villages like this still lack basic amenities. Beyond Chinas booming cities, the reality in the countryside -- particularly for ethnic minorities -- is that life is as hard as the land is beautiful. 05:36
Erkai tilling soil Music
CAMPBELL: Most of the Lisu scratch a living from small plots of land on the hillside. Erkai is the elected village leader, but that doesnt give him any privileges. He and his wife, Anni, can barely survive on the corn and barley they grow. 06:22
ERKAI: Its very hard to make money in the village. People stay at home doing farm work when its the busy time, but in their spare time they go out looking for jobs to support their families. 06:48
Anni grinding corn in ceremonial dress CAMPBELL: But poverty doesnt stop their hospitality. 07:15
Anni put on her full ceremonial dress for our visit to their home -- a simple, bamboo hut they built themselves. Its also home to two pigs, a herd of goats, several chickens and their granddaughter, Anna.
Erkai cutting chicken Before we knew what was happening, Erkai slaughtered one of his precious chickens for us. Anni spends every spare hour trying to supplement their meagre income, making traditional mats and bags to earn a few dollars at market. 07:49
Anni weaving ANNI: We, the Lisu women, have the tradition of weaving mattresses and cloth. If a Lisu woman cant weave mattresses and cloth, she will not be respected by others. 08:07
River Music
Man sharpening tools CAMPBELL: The Lisu have little access to the Chinas new economy of export manufacturing and high-rise construction. The only jobs near the village are low-paid labouring work. Its a common problem in rural China. But the Lisu have an added problem. 08:39
School children Like many of Chinas 56 minority groups, few speak any Chinese. The national language, Mandarin, is as incomprehensible to them as their own language is to the rest of China. 09:02
Principal PRINCIPAL: Mandarin is the common language in China, and Chinas 5,000-year history is recorded in Mandarin characters. So students must study Mandarin so they can develop and communicate with people outside in the future. 09:20
Children in school ground CAMPBELL: At the village school, children learn Mandarin as a foreign language. Its not only their one hope of finding jobs -- the authorities see it as a way to promote national unity. 09:43
Children at assembly Once a week, they raise the flag of the Peoples Republic and sing the national anthem. [children sing] 10:05
Yu Zanzong is the ethnic Lisu principal. 10:31
Principal PRINCIPAL: I know little about the situation before Liberation -- but from some books I know that education before Liberation was very bad. 10:35
Children in classroom CAMPBELL: The first hour is spent reciting Mandarin Even the teachers sometimes struggle with the words, switching back to Lisu so the children can follow. The three teachers are dedicated, but they lack even basic resources. Most of the children have never even seen a computer. Our visit was the first time theyd seen a digital camera. 10:56
Campbell takes photo of children Campbell: One, two, three!
Children in class CAMPBELL: The children are guaranteed free tuition until the age of 11. But its still a struggle for the parents to find money for books, even shoes. 11:47
PRINCIPAL: After graduating from primary school, some students cant afford further education because it is financially too difficult for the families. 12:06
CAMPBELL: Thats a problem Annas family is already facing. 12:26
Anni takes drink to Erkai While Erkai looks sprightly, hes battling ill-health.ANNI: He cant do very hard farm work. Even with all the difficulties in the family, I have to allow my granddaughter 12:34
Anni weaving to finish school. I will overcome all the difficulties to allow her to stay in school as long as possible. 12:49
Baptist church CAMPBELL: Frustrations with life on Earth have led many to look for rewards in heaven. Eighty per cent of the Lisu are Baptist Christians. Missionaries came to the area a century ago, devising a Lisu script to translate the Bible. The congregations were repressed during the Cultural Revolution. But after 1981, when the Communists ban on religion was lifted, the entire village was baptised. __________* is their Baptist pastor.Pastor: Christians dont drink, fight or swear, 13:06
Pastor so they can be better united. And they also have a healthier and cleaner life. Although Lisu people here are very poor, their spiritual life is very rich. 13:43
Music
Village shots CAMPBELL: The central Government hasnt completely ignored their material needs. They built a road here in the 1960s and have now brought power to homes around the school,though not to the other side where most people live. 14:30
Villagers crossing bridge Anyone prepared to walk an extra hour can cross a rickety bridge built further down the river. But it doesnt feel much safer than the cable in the village. Most use it only once a week to carry goods to a nearby market. 14:52
This is the one place they can see some benefit from Chinas economic reforms.
Erkai at market ERKAI: Twenty years ago there werent any markets anywhere here. We were unable to sell the agricultural products we produced. Pigs, chickens and vegetables could not be sold anywhere. 15:23
Villagers watch TV at market CAMPBELL: But few can afford the new consumer goods like televisions or DVDs -- and dont have electricity for them anyway. 15:43
Erkai and friends drink home brew So, to the disapproval of their pastor, Erkai and his friends seek entertainment the old-fashioned way. 16:05
ERKAI: After being tired from farm work, it relaxes me to drink -- and its good for my health. So I stopped going to church.
CAMPBELL: Home-brewing is one of the oldest known traditions of the Lisu culture. At the end of a hard week, its the prelude to an afternoon of storytelling and songs. 16:33
Music
Erkai with family having meal CAMPBELL: But the changes taking place in the new China are straining the ties of this community. Anni and Erkai are bringing up their granddaughter after Annas mother abandoned her for the lure of the city. Theyre determined to raise Anna in the Lisu ways. 17:00
Anna on cable Music
ANNI We will pass this lifestyle on. A Lisu couple respects each other to bring harmony in the family. The man does what he has to do and the woman does what she has to do. They care about each other and take care of each other. 17:36
Erkai with children CAMPBELL: There is a rhythm to daily life here that has changed little in centuries. Revolution has come and gone with little effect. The benefits of capitalism have largely passed them by. As China marches ahead to economic and military might, the Lisu struggle to keep up with a world that is leaving them behind. 18:10
LOST VILLAGEReporter: Eric CampbellCamera: Matt JasperEditor: Simon BrynjolffssenResearch: Charles LiProducer: Inka Kretschmer