Director Zhuang Hongsheng

Starring He Zhengjun / Zhou Li / Guo Kaimin / Zuo Xia Chu / Feng Qian / Yu Shixue / Li Nan / Niu Ben

First broadcast : 2004

Plot Summary :

In the final years of the Qing dynasty, Zigong, known as the “Land of Abundance,” was truly China’s “Pompeii”—a unique handicrafts city: the city of salt.

Back then in Zigong, black smoke from salt‑boiling hung in the air, blotting out the sun; on the ground, towering salt‑pumping derricks stood like sentinels reaching for the clouds; the sounds of well‑drilling and labor chants mingled into a deafening din; bamboo pipelines crisscrossed the landscape; salt‑boiling kilns dotted the countryside, their flames shooting skyward, while workers toiled like ants. Along the streets, money changers and trading houses thrived, bustling with activity and teeming with people—what a scene of prosperity!