Details
- Last Online: 4 hours ago
- Gender: Female
- Location: Hong Kong
- Contribution Points: 612 LV5
- Roles: VIP
- Join Date: June 5, 2019
- Awards Received:
75
326
9
1
4
12
2
3
2
1
4
10
1
1
2
2
3
2
2
2
1
1
8
75
326
9
1
4
12
2
3
2
1
4
10
1
1
2
2
3
2
2
2
1
1
8
This is set in a fictional industrial town Hualin where the entire town is a giant steel mill. Practically everyone in this town works for this state owned enterprise (SOE) that owns and finances everything from public transport to schools and hospitals. This was very common situation where a gigantic SOE is responsible for every aspect of its employees daily livelihood. They were often not that commercially viable and by the late 1990s, many were not making enough money to meet their social obligations (i.e. Wang Xiang's wife's medication bills were no longer disbursed by the enterprise) and started to do the unthinkable of laying off workers. The financial collapse of many of these SOEs sparked a massive wave of closures, restructuring, privatisation and reform of SOEs in China. Most of the characters in this drama were displaced from their comfort zone of lifetime employment at the SOE as a result of this reform process. SOEs used to be 85pct of the Chinese economy. Today the state is still about 60 pct of all companies in China but they are only 40 pct of the economy. SOEs today, especially listed ones are run so much like private companies with commercial purpose that they are effectively private companies and many are incredibly profitable.
Thus over the 3 time periods in the drama:
1. In the past (1997 and 1998) everyone except Ma Desheng works for Hualin Steel Mill in some capacity - nurse, train driver, etc. These enterprises were a law unto themselves, especially when they were effectively the entire town. That's why Ma Desheng needed an insider like Wang Xiang to help to figure out what was going on in the factory.
2. In the present, they are all a bit lost and were clearly ousted and had to find their own livelihoods as cosmeticians, taxi drivers, dancers etc. The town's economy and the main characters prospects never recovered from the loss of employment at the mill.
3. There was rapid change between 1997 and 1998. In 1997 things were still going relatively well but by 1998, the factory's financial distress was very obvious. That's why Wang Xiang kept pleading for a job for Wang Yang on the basis of 2 generations at the factory and was repeatedly rebuffed. The drama blames it on someone absconding with money to HK which may have been the case as theft, corruption and all kinds of misbehaviour was endemic. But this kind of stuff happened across literally millions of badly loss making SOEs across China.
Wait till you see Chen Minghao dance!!!