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Yan Linggang (b. 1931) is a resident of Yanzhuang Village, Shandong Province. In this interview, Yan talks about the life during the Great Famine. The Great Leap Forward started in 1958: all land became the commune's property and everyone ate at the communal canteen. Soon the villagers were too hungry to work and the production decreased. The famine became worse in 1961 because of the flood. Like many other villagers, Yan took clothes and socks to Tai'an in exchange for dried yams. The policy of "Allocation of Land to Individual Households" was not put into practice in Yanzhuang Village until 1982, which was three years later than other places. After that, their life started to get better.

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Correspondence (one partial letter)

Yan Zheni (b.1939) is a resident of Daguo Village, Daguo Xiang, Linying County, Luohe City, Henan Province. When people ate at the eating halls, they could only have porridge like noodle soup without noodles. If the porridge was spilled, people would lie on the ground to lick it. People also had various kinds of famine foods. Every family needed to work for credits, so Yan worked in the field at night, leaving her little daughter at home. She could not come back to her except to feed her breastmilk. Dozens of people died every day and villagers did not have time to bury them. Yan's parents also died then. Yan's first husband was from a family of rich peasant, and three people died in their family. She only survived the hunger because she was later married to her second husband, a cadre. The filmmaker's description of this interview has been translated into English.