Inside and Outside the Barrier

In the late 1970s, a small fishing village in southern China was transformed into a Special Economic Zone. A three-meter-high barbed wire fence divided Shenzhen into two worlds: inside the barrier and outside it. Beyond the fence, factories roared with machinery; within it, skyscrapers rose toward the sky. Urban migrants from all corners of the country arrived clutching dreams of striking it rich, passing through border checkpoints to weave their ambitions into reality. After the turn of the millennium, the iron fence rusted away and the checkpoints were abolished. The physical barrier collapsed, only for an invisible one to tower into the clouds. A new generation of urban migrants now spends their days in gleaming office buildings and their nights in cramped, dilapidated urban villages. Driven by the same enduring dream of wealth, they endure the ruthless tides of a fiercely competitive city. Over the decades, some have left while countless others continue to arrive. Generation after generation has spent its youth here, yet the city itself remains forever young.