Hidden Valley - China

Jan 2004
Hailed by many as the world's next global superpower, China seems to be leaving its rural communities behind.

Bu Shi village is one such place. For generations the only way to cross the river was by a bamboo rope. Now there is a wire cable. DVDs and televisions -- signs of the new consumerist China - arrive in the weekly market. But few of the locals even have electricity to use them. Some flee to the city, unable to resist the lure of urban living. Others fight to preserve their age-old traditions. "If a Lisu woman can't weave mattresses and cloth, she will not be respected by others," says Anni. Her mother may have abandoned her for the city, but she is determined to raise her daughter in the Lisu ways. She has the kind of spirit upon which the survival of China's rural communities relies.

Produced by ABC Australia
Distributed by Journeyman Pictures