Surrounded by mountains on three sides, and by the river on one side, the fields are flattened. Spiraling down from 22 bends, Longwan Village, Gansu Province, the Yellow River turns from here and crosses retrograde from east to west. Due to the peculiar landscape, Longwan Village was developed into a tourist attraction in 2004.
With a history of more than 300 years, Longwan Village had a road to the outside world in the 70s of the last century, and tourists brought the villagers a unique way of income - pulling donkey carts and rowing sheepskin rafts. Most of the villagers still depend on apple trees and corn fields irrigated by the Yellow River.
A cold spring made the apple harvest in Quanlongwan Village not good. The poor apple harvest will be a difficult year for the farmer (Luo Chongxiao) and his family. Luo Chongxiao's wife often has to drive donkey carts to the scenic area to pull guests, and there are more than 300 donkey carts lined up to solicit customers in the Yellow River Stone Forest Scenic Area. There are many guests and sometimes there are few guests, and sometimes a waiting time is a whole day.
An old man in the village passed away, and Luo Chongxiao was invited to be the general manager of the funeral to entertain the guests. There is no charge for being the big manager, and it all depends on the care of the villagers. His voice was hoarse from the days and nights of the funeral.
The eldest son's two children lived with Luo Chongxiao and his wife, and in the face of the burden of the family, Luo Chongxiao decided to find a new way out, and Luo Chongxiao came to find a raft worker friend to understand the situation. Since ancient times, sheepskin rafts have been the primary mode of water transportation in Longwan Village, and nowadays, they have gradually become a popular tourist project. There are already 150 sheepskin rafts among the more than 600 households in the village.
Luo Chongxiao secretly signed up for the sheepskin raft driver's license test without telling his family, (but his wife did not agree to him going, because Luo Chongxiao's father-in-law was injured because he rowed a raft to save people). According to the regulations, raft workers need to retire at the age of 60, and Luo Chongxiao, who is 50 years old this year, decided to go to the Yellow River to test the water first.
Nowadays, the management of the Yellow River raft workers is becoming more standardized, and the requirements for the sheepskin raft driver's license test are also more stringent. Luo Chongxiao's father-in-law, Grandpa Rui, is over 70 years old and an experienced raft maker, who started learning sheepskin rafts at the age of 12 and has supported the family by rowing sheepskin rafts for decades. Now, the responsibility of supporting the family falls on Luo Chongxiao's shoulders.
The Yellow River is turbulent and unpredictable, which tests the physical strength and inner courage of the raft workers. Entering and exiting the whirlpool is the most critical skill of a raft worker, and Luo Chongxiao came to the most difficult level.
Luo Chongxiao got the oars made by Grandpa Rui himself, practiced for a few days, improved a lot, and was not afraid, he was recognized by Grandpa Rui and had the opportunity to control a raft independently.
Unknown fate rises and falls like a sheepskin raft with the wind and waves, but there is always a pair of arms that draw new hope for the whole. In Longwan Village in June, the stone yellow here has the thickness of the earth, and the depth of the stone, just like the rolling yellow sand soaked in this mother river, the love and responsibility for the family has also become the background color of the blood of the men in the northwest.
According to the excerpt of the documentary "The Great Village", for reference only, invaded and deleted.
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