In 1979, Shenzhen, on the coast of the South China Sea, was marked for reform. Chen Ahai, a man born and raised in a fishing village, said goodbye to the fishing boats and the sea that he had relied on for generations to survive. He started as an ordinary builder and experienced the great changes in Shenzhen from a tidal flat fishing village to a modern new city in ten years.
He has stayed in his hometown, worked as a coolie, and started a small business. He has been confused and reluctant to give up in the tide of the times, but he has always relied on steadfastness and perseverance to gain a foothold in the rapidly developing city. As a witness to the changes in Shenzhen, he witnessed how this city, which was born on the sea, rose from the ground with the spring breeze of policies and the sweat of millions of strugglers. He also witnessed the tolerance and strength of locals and outsiders working together to build the city.
From a fishing village to a city, from relying on the sea to build a city and rejuvenate the country, Chen Ahai's half-life is the epitome of Shenzhen's rise in the past ten years. The growth history of this young coastal city is also a magnificent story of China's reform and ordinary strugglers.
