Wang Bing's Nine-Hour Documentary 'Tie Xi Qu' Captures Industrial Shenyang's Decline

Chinese filmmaker Wang Bing's first documentary 'Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks' spans over nine hours, depicting the final years of Shenyang's industrial district. Shot between 1999 and 2001 from more than 300 hours of footage, the film documents the dismantlement of state-owned enterprises after economic policy shifts. YouTuber Ken Dai praises the work in a video essay, noting its division into three parts: workers in redundant factories, families and teenagers, and two men scavenging along a freight railway. Wang's approach exemplifies direct cinema, incorporating no narration, interviews, or non-diegetic music, though it includes an impromptu nude guitar performance in a barracks. His other lengthy documentaries include 'Til Madness Do Us Part' (3 hours 48 minutes) about a Yunnan mental institution, 'Beauty Lives in Freedom' (5.5 hours) on imprisoned artist Gao Ertai, and 'Dead Souls' (8 hours 15 minutes) covering survivors of a Gobi Desert labor camp. Later, he made '15 Hours' about a clothing factory. Wang's body of work offers a rich cinematic exploration of modern China's transformation through grim subjects and extreme durations, making commercial success challenging.