Looking West

In March 1975, the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps was disbanded. When the news was announced, people were unsettled.

Li Zhenxin, a Shanghai youth sent to the countryside, was among the first to pack his bags.

He had always longed to leave and return to bustling Shanghai, but fate kept him here.

Love came. His father passed away. And his old squad leader, Zhang Youfu, was swept away by a flood while saving him. They never even found the body.

Each of these things was like a nail, pinning him to this land.

He began to truly open his heart to Xinjiang, to the Corps, and to everything here.

He stopped living for other people's opinions and started living for himself.

Gradually, he realized he had fallen in love with this desolate yet generous land.

In December 1981, the central government decided to restore the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, giving it that name.

By then, Li Zhenxin had become a key technical specialist at the regiment's farm.

His son was born that year, and he named him...

Hope.