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Wang Wenyu (b. 1941) is a resident of Diaoyutai Village, Yindian Town, Suizhou City, Hubei Province. He worked for railroad and dam construction as a teenager. In this interview, Wang recalls the hardships on the construction site and in his family during the Great Famine (or what he calls 'the transitional period'). The transcript of this interview has been translated into English.

Wang Xiangzhen (b. 1938) is a resident of Jimingqiao Village, Baiyun Town, Shimen County, Hunan Province. In this interview, Wang recounts how the dinners to recall past bitterness eaten at the Chinese New Year, and the consequential conflict between her and her mother-in-law caused by a small bow of meat.

Includes dissertation

Wang Xiuqin (b. 1936) was born in Zoujia Village, Shangdian Town, Binzhou City, Shandong Province. During the Great Famine, Wang and her husband were working in a nearby town named Zhangjiadian, where they survived the hardest time. She says that she does not know the reason for the famine. She only heard that their team leader's superiors refused to give out food, and that there was grain in the barns but it was not for villagers. The filmmaker's description of this interview has been translated into English.

Wang Xiuzhen (b. 1934) is a resident of Renjiagou Village, Shaanxi Province. In this interview, Wang recalls the difficult life after 1958. During the daytime, she had to do farming or build blast furnace with her kid on her back. At night because she also had to work overtime, she put her kid in a basket and asked someone else to look after the kid. The communal canteen only provided vegetable soup, and lots of people died of starvation. The kids didn't have clean clothes to change after their clothes got wet, so the parents had to dry the clothes over fire.

Wang Yifa (b. 1945) is a resident of Diaoyutai Village, Yindian Town, Suizhou City, Hubei Province. In 1958, Wang was a work-study student; he pastured cattles for the production team. Then people ate for free in the People's Commune Canteen, but soon the commune canteen ran out of food except chaff. Wang went to Zijin Mountain to join the railway construction project to feed himself. The local production team blew up the team's population to gain more relief grain. The transcript of this interview has been translated into English.

Wang Yifang (b. 1936) is a resident of Heishan Village, Shaanxi Province. In this interview, Wang recalls the days when eating at the communal canteen. The food provided by the canteen had no oil at all, and the flour for making buns was mixed with lime, which was harmful for the stomach. Although the food was far from enough, the villagers had to work overtime every night and many died of starvation. After the "Socialism Education Movement" in 1963, the communal canteen was closed down and life started to improve gradually.

Wang Yingying (b. 1946) is a resident of Renjiagou Village, Shaanxi Province. In this interview, Gao recalls the life during the Great Famine. Wang was still attending elementary school in 1958 in her hometown. All the grain and land belonged to the agricultural cooperative. The villagers had two meals of sweet potatoes and corns everyday. Because they didn't have money to buy medicine, if they got sick, they could only prepare some home-made remedies. The communal canteen was closed down in 1959. After that, the villagers cooked and ate at home, and had to frequently eat tree bark and wild vegetables. In 1961, in order to make some extra money for salt, Wang frequently walked for over 6 miles to sell firewood.

Wang Zhaofeng (b. 1932) is a resident of Ji'an City, Jiangxi Province. In this interview, Wang recalls her early life which was full of hardships. After getting married, she moved to the village she's living now. Wang's family was classified as landlord. As a result, Wang was once criticized in struggle sessions for seven days and nights. Without any grain, Wang had to go back to her parents' house for food. Later Wang made a living through grounding rice for others. She often ate chaff and wild vegetables and saved rice for her kids.

Wang Zhishan (b. 1938) is a resident of Xiangzidian Village, Yinhua Town, Shanyang County, Shangluo City, Shanxi Province. Wang was a doctor at local town hospital. He often paid visits to patients at villages and encountered wolf on mountain road. He said that people had four common sickness because of the famine emaciation, amenorrhea, malnutrition and edema. People with edema were treated with Kangfusan, a power mix of bran, soybean, sugar and a local herb called Cangshu. Public canteen claimed that they had abundant food by placing grain on top and bags with stone and chaff at the bottom. People had only thin congee. Death of starvation was kept as a secret as for national security reasons. A man once killed his wife for food. He said that Liu Shaoqi's policy was good but he was condemned by Mao Zedong. People were told that the backyard furnaces were needed for world peace. The transcript of this interview has been translated into English.