Go, Go to the South

In the frozen northeastern border town of Suihe County, 53-year-old Chen Jianmin fell into an abyss of numbness after the sudden death of his wife Li Lanmei. When sorting out the belongings, a yellowed old letter from 1997 awakened the dusty memory - my wife once yearned for the warm south. With complex emotions of escaping the pain and fulfilling his wife's long-cherished wish, this old man with a disabled leg and who had hardly been out of the county clumsily boarded the train heading south with his meager savings and photos of his wife. Starting from the hustle and bustle of Changyang City, the first stop, he was at a loss for what to do with the hot and humid atmosphere, the unfamiliar language, and the surging crowds. Embarrassment and loneliness go hand in hand, but I also meet the cleaning lady who guides me, the Henan proprietress who cooks hot noodles, and the enthusiastic young people. He walked all the way south, passing through the ancient village of Kaizhou, Husong Beach, Fanzhou Tea House, Dongshun Factory... He learned to survive awkwardly, observing the prosperity and hardship, tenacity and warmth of the south. When he encountered a violent typhoon, his near-death experience and his actions to save others made him realize that what his wife longed for was not only the scenery, but also the vigorous vitality and possibility. In the end, when he returned to his hometown with an open mind and a new understanding of "home", he faced the changes in things and people, but in the reunion of relatives and friends, he understood that the real home was never truly lost due to leaving or changing. This is a journey south through the ice of geography and soul, an ice-breaking rebirth of rediscovering the world and oneself in the second half of life.