Arquivo / 49ª mostra

Seven retired Chinese from different backgrounds and life experiences come together to form a cycling team. They take an extraordinary journey from the industrial city of Lanzhou in north-west China, across the Tangula Mountain and Tibetan plateau to Lhasa and finally to the Everest Base Camp. The whole journey is 3,100 kilometers and takes the cyclists across five mountains with altitudes of over 5,200 meters. After conquering countless difficulties, they eventually realize their long-cherished dream, to cross the Roof of the World on bicycles. Among these seven, the oldest is 66, a man who had a brush with death when he suffered a stroke. Another was left paralyzed for a year after being poisoned in an industrial accident. There are two women among the team. All come from Guangzhou, the metropolis in southern China also known as Canton, and the first city to open to the outside world under Deng Xiao Ping’s reforms. In the highly commercialized city, people have changed significantly over the last twenty years. Lives are dominated by materialism and the quest for wealth, a sharp contrast to the Maoist days. But these seven men and women are looking to find fulfillment by setting themselves a grueling personal challenge.