From 35 to 53 years old
I completed a long-time following-up record photographing
Of the ethnic minorities living in northern China
Including Evenki, Olunchun
Their living conditions and mental conditions
I spent two, three years in the steppe
Then went back to Beijing
Found the cheapest courtyard
Right on the Chaobai River
Still I found a place where I could build my own yurt
So that my life
My heart can settle down
Kind of nomadic
I learned about the old lady’s death out of a sudden
Head of the reindeer tribe
Later called chief
My heart trembled at it
So I rushed over there
Maria Suo’s farewell ceremony
Is in the form of dinner held for relatives and friends (to pay homage)
In a hut
People started singing long tune
In a heavy state
The change of a nation in the era
It’s disappearing
(Father) was assigned to this place after graduation in the 60s
To support frontier construction
In the settlement of Olunchun people
Did interviews and investigations
My father arrived at Aoluguya
And the first one to receive him was Maria Suo
My father took honest photos of them
Recording the daily life of the hunting nation
We didn’t communicate much at the time
I knew when he left every time
But had no idea when he would return
(Until in my thirties” I saw “Lie Min Sheng Huo Ri Ji” written by my father
I started to respect his previous “disappearance”
（My father） all by himself
Took two, three rolls of film at a time
(Recording) their birch bark culture
Hunting culture
Religious beliefs, in a classified manner
For the nation
For people wanting to know about the nation
It’s crucial material
Under the influence of my father
Twenty years later, I decided to make documentaries
Longterm tracking
Once again I approached the scene he used to be
“Speak Evenki”
“You should study the language of your own nation”
“I don’t understand your Evenki”
Shot it for nearly 10 years
The first film was “Auloguya” edited with three years of materials
I didn’t know how to begin with it
Maria Suo was against others going up the mountain
But she saw that I could work and cook
Didn’t become a burden to others
So she acquiesced
One after another
Everything was uncertain
Weijia
An Evenki painter
He tends to overdrink after he lost his shotgun
“My twenty-year of hunting career is over”
“Farewell, shotgun”
The tribe see him as a city man
While urban people see him as a national minority
He is like a painful pendulum
Swinging back and forth between forest and city
“Our culture”
“Is disappearing”
“Our language and institutions”
“Are also disappearing”
After they settled down the mountain
The death of reindeers (There are less and less reindeers because of poachers)
Losing shotgun means losing their identity
Losing identity means the lost of their value
The value of their very existence
I grew up in the forest
I actually understand him
I left home when I was 18 years old
I came to Beijing in 1999
Worked as a photographer
And did decoration works
I made 20,000 yuan that year
Survival is the easiest thing to do
But I started feeling not right
But after I started making documentaries
I’m back at my true self
Through conversations with a group
I’ve become calmer
What my father has given me
I seem to be passing it on
I love being with people
But meanwhile minding my own business
In the next three years
I will make two archival documentaries
Shaman Map (former religious Shaman in northern China) and Director’s Map (Independent China)
If you have the urge to do it
It is related to you
And you are doing the right thing 1/2