Sisters - A 20-episode authentic large-scale documentary

Author: Lao Li Tan Xiaoguo
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-03-06
Features: Sisters centers around a hair salon of over 20 square meters and records the real-life story of a pair of sisters from Quzhou, Zhejiang. The protagonists, sisters Zhang Hu and Zhang Wei, along with the "hair washer" sisters they recruit from Hunan and Guizhou—like Xiaofang and Awen—struggle to operate legally while refusing to provide sexual services. Their personal lives are equally filled with pain and hardship: some divorce, some are abandoned by their boyfriends, and some desperately wait for the father of their child, who has no contact with them. For survival, for their children, they fight tirelessly at the bottom of society, battling fate. As the first "super-real" large-scale documentary in China, the film's creators followed the characters closely for four years, traveling across five provinces and seven cities, requiring viewers to prepare their hearts for compassion and their eyes for tolerance.
In 2000, Shenzhen was far different from what it had been a decade earlier. In 2000, Shenzhen, compared to a decade earlier, had changed dramatically. At the age of 30, Zhang Hu stood on Guowei Road in Liantang District, blankly watching the cars and pedestrians passing by. Liantang is a well-known industrial area in Shenzhen, where the influx of migrants had transformed it into a large residential area. Just a few years ago, Guowei Road was still desolate, but now it was lined with shops, and various signs and neon displays showcased the city's prosperity. The spot where Zhang Hu stood offered a view of Wutong Mountain across the street, bathed in the golden glow of the sunset at around 5 or 6 PM. The warm light made her suddenly feel a sense of warmth, and if it weren’t for the tall television tower on the mountain, she would have thought it was the mountains of her hometown. Zhang Hu’s hometown was in the mountainous areas of Quzhou County, Zhejiang. The mountains there were layered upon one another, and she could distinguish the calls of various birds and the butterflies that fluttered all over the mountains in the summer. After drifting away from her hometown for fifteen years, the remote village of Dapingcun in Jucun Township was still the softest corner in her heart.
In November, Shenzhen was free of any chill, but Zhang Hu, wearing a red short-sleeved T-shirt, still shrank her shoulders. She was a slender woman with no friends in the city. Like every newcomer to Shenzhen, Zhang Hu’s face bore an stubborn expression, which gave her already gaunt features a somewhat harsher tone. Behind her stood an unopened hair salon, its door adorned with a large advertisement featuring a woman with long hair, smiling seductively and brilliantly in the sunlight. The woman in the painting was Zhang Hu herself. She had cleverly used her own photo as the salon’s advertisement, and when it came to making the neon sign, no worker had noticed the secret. In their eyes, this outsider woman was sharp and efficient, never careless in her work. After agreeing on the price, one worker even teased Zhang Hu with the photo: "Oh, where did you find such a beauty?" Zhang Hu felt a bit, as the photo was taken several years ago and no longer considered beautiful, though it was still round. The hardships of city life had left both her heart and face marked with weariness. Zhang Hu stood beneath the newly hung advertisement, watching the crowds and cars pass by, yet no one paid attention to the somewhat desolate woman. The Zhang Hu in the advertisement still smiled carelessly, but only a close look could reveal the similarities between her and the gaunt woman in subtle details—a refined elegance typical of women from Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Beside the smiling Zhang Hu were large letters: "Baili Beauty Salon."
A few days earlier, she had spent 60,000 yuan to rent the store from a woman from Chaozhou. The price was fair in Liantang District. The rented store was not large, less than 20 square meters, and was originally a hair salon. Zhang Hu had hoped to save money on renovations. There were nearly 30 hair salons on Guowei Road, making competition fierce. However, Zhang Hu had years of experience running salons and was not unfamiliar with the industry. She dreamed of making Shenzhen her final destination, not just another stop in her quest for dreams.
When Zhang Hu arrived in Shenzhen from Beijing, she immediately fell in love with the city: the warm, humid air was better than the dry cold of the north, and the abundant greenery was more appealing than the endless gray of Beijing. Compared to Beijing, Shenzhen felt closer to her hometown. Deep down, Zhang Hu felt that her choice to come to Shenzhen was right.
There was another direct reason for her coming to Shenzhen—her younger sister, Zhang Wei. A few months earlier, while running a salon in Beijing, Zhang Hu received a call from her younger sister in Zhejiang. Zhang Wei started the conversation by saying, "I divorced Wang Shuirong." Zhang Hu was not surprised by the outcome but was shocked that Wang Shuirong had agreed to the divorce. Zhang Wei told Zhang Hu that she had made the biggest concessions in the divorce agreement, keeping only custody of her daughter, Belle.
"You don’t know how ridiculous it is," Zhang Wei said calmly on the phone, her temperament always steady even in the face of major events. "Wang Shuirong even added a condition: I can’t date anyone after the divorce. I agreed only after he promised." Zhang Hu urged, "That sounds just like something your husband would do! Why should you agree to that?!" Zhang Wei replied, "You don’t know, but as long as I divorced him, I agreed to anything. After I finally got him to sign, I finally breathed a sigh of relief. But now that the divorce certificate is in hand, he still follows me around every day, like I’m still married. It’s so annoying!"
Zhang Hu knew that her younger sister had no place to stay in Quzhou and was also raising a four-year-old daughter. Wang Shuirong could find her with his eyes closed, and she knew him too well—he could turn into a furious lion when he lost his temper. But she could only comfort her sister: "Think positively! You’ve been stuck with him for years, and now you’re finally free! Last night, I dreamed he was hitting you again. That dead man was holding a knife and chasing me, terrifying me awake. Luckily, it was just a dream."
Zhang Wei said, "Now, just seeing him makes me tremble all over. You don’t know." Zhang Hu certainly knew—after getting married, her sister had endured beatings and abuse as a matter of course. Over six years, countless brutal moments had turned love into fear and hatred.
"Sigh!" Zhang Wei sighed. "This isn’t working. Let’s go to Shenzhen together. It’s better than staying in Quzhou." After a pause, as if making up her mind, she added, "We’ll open a salon together. How about it? Anyway, your business in Beijing isn’t doing well."
The salon in Beijing was being managed for a friend, giving it a temporary feel. Zhang Wei’s suggestion did stir Zhang Hu’s thoughts, and the two sisters became excited while talking on the phone. They discussed when to go, how much to invest, what area was suitable, how to find a store, and even argued over details like how to decorate and what products to use. They also repeatedly discussed what clothes to bring to Shenzhen. The future of their lives gradually took shape in their conversation.
They acted quickly—after a month, Zhang Hu handed over her business in Beijing and arrived in Shenzhen. Finding a store, negotiating prices—everything was prepared. Yet, half a month after the agreed-upon time had passed, Zhang Wei…