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Zhi Dongming (b. 1939) is a resident of Xiguan Village, Shaanxi Province, and the grandfather of the interviewer, Zhi Pengbo. In this interview, Zhi recalls the life from 1958 to 1961. When constructing blast furnace in 1958, the villagers had to work both day and night. They mined coals, cut firewood and pumped the bellows. In 1958, all the young men in the village were sent to build road and cultivate wasteland for farming in different places. During the Great Famine, like most of the young men in the village, Zhi was working outside. Only the old people were left in the village. Although no one died of starvation, many got sick.

Zhou Chengshun (b. 1940) is a resident of Jimingqiao Village, Baiyun Town, Shimen County, Hunan Province. During the Great Famine Zhou did not suffer from hunger thanks to his position as the director of the people's commune canteen. In his memory, no villager died of starvation in their canteen. Zhou also recalls that slogans were written on some young women's breasts to mobilize the workers at the construction site of Heping Reservoir in 1959.

Zhou Chengyou (b. 1941) is a resident of Diaoyutai Village, Yindian Town, Suizhou City, Hubei Province. He was the leader of No. 3 production team for 20 years since he was in his twenties. Zhou believes that 'the transitional period' of grains (the Great Famine) was because China had to pay debts to foreign countries. He recalls a few people who starved to death in different production teams. Zhou described in detail about the procedure of struggle sessions during the Four Cleanups, how he was criticized as he hadn't cleaned up some reactionary elements. He argues that the Four Cleanups movement was good at the beginning, but was overdone as it developed. The transcript of this interview has been translated into English.

Zhou Huodi (b.1932) is a resident of Zhaixia Village, Pengzhai Town, Heping County, Heyuan City, Guangdong Province. During the three years of the Great Famine, Zhou's husband sold vats to get potatoes, corns and wheat. She once lived on just rice, not suffering too much from the hunger. Afterwards, people got so hungry that they started stealing food. Zhou ate pork out of a dead pig, which made her out of milk, and her less-than-one-year-old daughter starved to death as a result. Many people died back then, including Zhou's Uncle and mother; people refused to help burying her mother's body unless they were given food in return.

Zhou Jianying (b. 1934), the older sister of another interviewee, Zhou Xueying, is a resident of Changxing Village, Gaolong Town, Chaling County, Hunan Province. Zhou was born in the nearby Zhoubi Town, and married a man in Changxing Village in 1952. In 1958, Zhou worked for the production team during pregnancy until labor. Her working points were deducted because of going back home to feed her child. In 1960, Zhou's husband with several other villagers escaped to Jinggang Mountain of Jiangxi Province, where they could get more food by participating in the construction work. Zhou was punished to work more as the wife of the escaped criminal. During this period, some peasants from the nearby You County came to Changixing Village to sell their clothes and children because of the famine. She remembers that during the Cultural Revolution, the Red Flag Army, leaders of the Land Reform, were criticized. The filmmaker's description of this interview has been translated into English.

Zhou Jinnian recalled that many people died of starvation in 1959 because the village production team leader sold all grain to the state. Villagers went to look for edible wild vegetable in the wood when they were hungry.