Up the Hanshui
A journey tracing the Hanshui River upstream to its source reveals a nationwide hydraulic engineering project that reshaped the landscape, displaced communities, and altered nature. Once a symbol of heritage, the river now serves the needs of China’s capital.
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Wanying, the 34-year-old podcast host, has never paid much attention to the Hanshui River at her doorstep growing up, even though it is considered to be the third Mother River of the Chinese civilization. Early 2023, she returned to hometown Laohekou to attend her grandfather's funeral. On the night of the wake, she stood at the bank of Hanshui, as it quietly flew in the darkness, and felt her connection with the river once again. Despite the significance Hanshui embodies in ancient and modern Chinese history, Wanying realized how little she actually knew about the river itself. That’s the moment she decided to embark on a journey up the Hanshui.
After three months of research and planning, a group of five took off from the city of Wuhan where the Hanshui eventually merged into the Yangtze River, and drove for 11 consecutive days upstream towards her source. Along the journey, we observed the flow of her water, change of landscapes, rise and fall of communities, and the relationship between Hanshui and riverside residents. The grand narratives of a nationwide hydraulic engineering project, the “South-North Water Transfer Project (S.N. Project)” that took over six decades to complete, was gradually unravelled before us during this road trip. Extremely personal stories of reservoir migrants were discovered on sunny plains and between cloudy mountains along the river banks.
After 11 days and 1,577 kilometers, having observed Hanshui’s various phases of raging, trickling, rushing and wilting, the group arrived at the source of Hanshui, however the scene was quite different from expectation. As the last stop of this trip, they headed to Beijing to witness the destination of the S.N. Project, where Hanshui’s fate was ultimately terminated. An interview was conducted with Professor Luo Xin, a renowned historian at Peking University who has a personal connection to this subject.
The Hanshui is one of the most significant rivers in China. She originates between the Qinling Mountains, spawning the Golden Shipping Waterway network that bridges China's Northern regions and Southern regions, irrigating thousands of miles of the Jianghan Plain, and ultimately merging into the Yangtze River at Wuhan. She has given her name to the Han dynasty (202 BC - 220 AD), the Han tongue (Mandarin language) and the Han people (Chinese ethnicity). The presence of the Hanshui River fulfilled a rich historical heritage and cultural significance.
In modern times, during the 1950s, Chairman Mao proposed that “There is a lot of water in the South, but not much in the North, so if possible, it would be great to borrow some water”. This impulsively poetic idea was put into execution right away. Construction of a huge water dam broke ground at Danjiangkou around the waist of Hanshui.
The Danjiangkou Reservoir subsequently flooded a vast area of land, resulting in a total of 380,000 forced migrants, with more than 200,000 from Xichuan, Henan Province. Many of the Xichuan migrants were resettled at a wild and swampy land, Chaihu town, over 400 kilometers away, making it the largest migrant resettlement area in the country. After a series of political campaigns, including the Cultural Revolution, the first phase of the Danjiangkou Reservoir was finally completed in 1974.
In 1992, the State Council listed the S.N. Project as one of China's “Backbone Projects for the Next Century”, and further construction was initiated. During 2005 to 2013, the Danjiangkou Dam was elevated to new heights to fulfill the requirement for water transfer at a cost of more than 2.4 billion RMB. As the water storage level was raised to 170 meters, it increased the submerged area of Xichuan by 144 square kilometers, and created 330,000 new migrants.
62 years after Mao’s original proposal, on December 12, 2014, the South-North Water Transfer Project officially launched its Middle Route water supply. Since that day, Hanshui has been delivering clean drinking water to Beijing, Tianjin, Henan, Hebei and other highly populated regions in Northern China, nourishing over 100 million people. However, most people living in Beijing today, even the security guards of the city reservoir, don't realize that the water for their everyday life is delivered from Hanshui, thousands of miles away.
With such a long and complicated history, and such a far-reaching impact, Hanshui has received very little attention from academia and media. For most people, the name Han River is more likely to be associated with a river of the same name in South Korea. Hanshui's low profile is disproportionate to her contributions in history and present.
One of the members of this trip, Yuan Ling, is the author of the non-fiction literature “The Origin of Hanshui”. This book systematically analyzes the Hanshui in five dimensions: water conservancy, migration stories, waterway transportation, fishing industry, and environmental issues. The book was published in 2022 and since received various awards. However, it remains to be one of the very few studies focusing on Hanshui in recent years.
In addition, during the trip, Wanying hosted a daily podcast program “the Hanshui Diary”, recording what the team has seen and felt along the way, providing an audio archive of the journey. The podcast received a phenomenal domestic response on the internet, and the story of Hanshui was spread to a wide audience.
Last but not least, the documentary “Up the Hanshui” was filmed by myself, following the perspectives of these protagonists, capturing the view and narration of the journey, such as the local rural and urban landscape, the impacts of S.N. Project, and the life of migrants. The film was shot over 13 days, covering 2,000 kilometers of driving on the road, with a run time of 52 minutes.
Today, December 12th, 2024, happens to be the exact 10 year anniversary of the official launch of S.N. Project. I consider this documentary as my own tribute to Hanshui and her people.
Jingtian Sun
Director of Up the Hanshui
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Jingtian SunDirector
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Clara WengProducer
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Project Title (Original Language):汉水逆行
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Project Type:Documentary
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Genres:Environment, Social, Politics, Travel
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Runtime:52 minutes
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Completion Date:December 12, 2024
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Production Budget:10,000 CAD
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Country of Origin:Canada
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Country of Filming:China
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Language:Mandarin Chinese
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Shooting Format:Digital
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Aspect Ratio:1.85:1
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:Yes
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Student Project:No
Documentary
“Up the Hanshui” (2024) - Director, Cinematographer, Editor
Documentary Shorts
“Northeastern Hybrid” (2022) - Director, Cinematographer, Editor
“The Palace Museum Ancient Treasure Series” (2022) - Director, Editor
“The New Northeastern Narrative” (2021) - Director, Cinematographer, Editor
Feature Films
“Horned Frog, Resurrect!” (2024) - Editor
“The Catshark” (2023) - Co-producer, Editor
“Vagrant Bebop” (2021) - Line Producer, 16th FIRST International Film Festival Official Selection
Jingtian Sun is a Chinese Canadian filmmaker based in Toronto, Ontario.
With his background in journalism since 2008, Sun enhanced his ability to explore social issues through a humanistic lens, which became the supporting foundation for his career in documentary filmmaking starting 2021.
His active involvement in Canada-based arts and cultural initiatives, including Emerging Young Artists and the Toronto Mulan International Film Festival, further shaped his development as a producer and storyteller.
"Up the Hanshui", his debut mid-length documentary, delves into themes central to his work: the intersection of individual destinies with grand historical narrative.
Topics that most interest and inspire him are ones that touch upon the life experiences of Asian immigrants in Canada, the preservation of historical and cultural heritages. He dedicates a special attention to highlighting personal stories within broader social contexts.