Every one has special times in their lives
My greatest memories
is the few short days I spent in China more than 50 years ago
I'll never forget the land lavished by the war
or the valiant Chinese people
who faced the challenges in their incredibly hard lives
with unwavering courage and spirit.
The cave dwellings
the ancient temples built on the foundation of silt and clay
and the magnificent Yellow River.
Thank you You are very welcome.
In 1943
I served as a bomber pilot in the United States air force
One autumn day
We were on a long distance recon flight
Our mission was take aero-pictures of Japanese factories in Liaoning
We complete our mission and headed back
Robert wanted to bomb the Japs right then and there.
Me? I wanted to bring back the film safely.
I did understand Robert's hatred of the Japanese, though
His only brother had been killed in Pearl Harbor.
His opportunity had come.
Owen, whose warship do you think that is?
The only boats down there are Japanese
I gotta go bomb them, you take care of the film.
Good luck, Rob, I'll cover you.
Let's get down on both sides.
OK
Robert, jump
His falling down!
This is for Robert
No...
Ladies and Gentleman
We will be landing in Beijin in 15 minutes.
The ground temperature is 24 Degrees
Please fasten your seatbelt
Straighten your seat back
The lavatories are temporarily closed.
Ladies and gentlemen...
God!
Boy...
Help me
boy
Boy
"Foreign soldiers help Chinese people fight the Japs.
Camera
Don't move
How do you do?
How do you do, Mr. Owen?
How did you know my name?
You are safe now
You are with the eighty rout army.
The eighth rout?
Yes
We have to move on, is he able to walk by himself?
Are you able to walk? Yes
It was a miracle to meet an English speaking girl in such a small village.
So I was rescued by a group of Chinese soldier by the eighth rout army
They had managed to penetrate deep into the Japanese territory.
We were surrounded on all sides by the Japanese.
So the commander assigned four soldiers to escort my back to the base.
The young man leading our group was a dark faced fellow
with few words.
I looked unsatisfied with my presence.
An-Jeh is a medical student in Beijing.
She resolved to join the eighth rout army while the war was breaking out.
Because the medical expertise and her English speaking skills
She was assigned to accompany me.
It seemed that God had sent me an angel
I couldn't believe that I was crossing the great wall of China.
One of the greatest wanders of the world.
would lead me to a fascinating land.
Thank you
I lived in China for 4 years so I can speak a little Chinese
This is very pretty.
He said that your outfit looks great.
I think it would be popular in America.
This would be popular abroad.
Where did you buy it?
Did I say something wrong?
In China, when men leave home
Women will make them a red apron.
As a good luck charm.
You Orients don't like it when people ask about your family, do you?
The division is right across the river.
What did he say?
He says, we are in the safe zone now.
Safe zone? Yeah.
I only saw...interesting.
Angel
Please call me An-Jeh.
Angel
You saved my life.
You're my angel sent from heaven.
After 3 grueling days on foot,
We neared our destination,
Military command post of the eighth rout army.
We crossed the great wall, climbed Tai Hang mountain,
passed poverty stricken villages and temples built on cliffs
Homey
Darkie
Hello...
Hello
Goodbye
We can't wait any longer.
We have to go
Maybe he is already on the way
He is late
If he is alive he will find the base
But what if he got caught?
He won't tell, I know him
Do you know how the Japs Torture the prisoners?
We have been in hiding for three days.
And no villagers in the military base
had survived the attack of the Japanese
Darkie sent a soldier to search for the guerrilla
And that soldier hadn't come back yet.
He's got important information on him
We can not let the Japs get to him
Mr. Owen, we leave here tomorrow
I understand
Our mission was to get you here.
The division will assign someone get you cross the Yellow River.
Cross the Yellow River.
Yes, the base is right across the river
Is it Yian-An?
Yes
I know
Now we have to help you cross the Yellow River.
OK,I can swim, and you?
I can help you swim across
Swim
The Yellow River.
Why not? I can row
The waves here cannot be bigger than those in Colorado.
You'll see.
What is this?
We will arrive in Yian-An tomorrow?
Tomorrow
We must hike for 3 days.
Angel, there is something I have to say you are good people
But you know nothing about military. You want to cross the Yellow River.
You have to go along the highway, that will only take a day.
This is occupied territory, we can not use the main roads.
I have important information for the base.
I cannot stick with you.
and walk around in the mountains.
You mean you want to fly there?
You are not real soldiers.
You walk around in the mountains.
How are you going to win this war?
What did you say?
I WILL fly again.
Wake them
Darkie
goodbye
He says he wants to take the highway
Chase them along the highway
Angel, Darkie...
He is back
This is the car of the Japanese
Come on down, we can drive all the way to Shangrilla
He is going to get us into trouble.
Look what I got.
You guys wait here, I'll down and check
Come on
We don't have all day.
Owen, the Japs are behind you.
Can't let the Japs get them.
You stay here.
Come on
What are you waiting for?
Go
No
Go
It was my fault that the soldier died.
And I now understood
the differences between us.
And there is a war within a war taking place
inside this Japanese occupied territory
Thank you
Darkie decided to take us to his home town
near the Yellow River, we crossed the river in secret there
The town had a mysterious name, they called it "fairy spring village".
I don't want to see them.
Chief
Go and see what they want.
We wish that you can be on our side.
Mr. Sun, please take care of our cargo.
Sanpao, are you still a bachelor?
Come with me, we got a lot of women here.
OK...
Our chief will treat you right.
We cross the river tomorrow as usual.
How can there be a foreigner here.
Don't play dumb with me.
Ruined a good play for me.
Thank you
That is my home.
Cross here.
You will get to the fairy spring village.
Darkie Father.
What are you doing back?
We want to cross the Yellow River
Huahua, it's your dad don't be afraid.
What's your name?
Huahua
The foreign uncle gave me
Huahua, give it back
No...
You don't listen to me?
Darkie, this is my watch
I gave it to her, this is none of your business.
I am her father.
Say thank you
Thank you
Don't cry
What did grandpa wanted you to do?
He told me to get scorpions.
Why?
For Foreign uncle's wounds.
Why?
Fight the Japs.
You don't have to see us off.
Please don't see us off...
Please visit us again.
We can take a bath in the hot spring, it is very healthy.
Huahua, what are you doing?
I am looking for scorpions.
Why?
To heal wounds
Is your grandpa wounded?
I am not telling you
Eat...
It is very tasty.
I once saw a rooster ate a scorpion
But in China people eat them as medicine.
The next day, my inflammation was gone.
We got dirty, your Mom will spank you.
What's wrong?
My Mom is dead.
I'm sorry.
I learned later,
That his home town was attacked by the Japanese three years earlier
To test the effectiveness of the newly invented gas bomb
More than a 100 villagers were captured and locked in a temple
Among them were Huahua's mother and brother.
Shortly after, Darkie found his wife's body.
He removed her red under garment
And carried it with him as he rejoined the eighth rout army.
Foreign uncle...
I will get more scorpions for you
Darkie, it has been three years now you grow cocky on me?
Sanpao
Darkie, you want to leave without visiting me?
What's between us stays between us, let them through
Get them.
Come with us, sweetie.
Miss, It's you
what kind of informer are you?
You said you are going to bring me my foes,
And you bring me a foreigner and my daughter?
Haven't heard a word form you, now you are with the eighth rout?
I'll stay with whoever fights the Japs.
I wanted you to study
Not to make trouble
Study?
You think that the Japs will let me study?
That is no reason for not contacting me
I am, after all, your father.
The minute you teamed up with the enemy you no longer are my father.
That is not right, I never worked for the Japanese.
You are working for the Japs right now.
OK
Let us go this instance.
Or you can turn me in to the Japs, get a handsome reward.
Miss, chief did it all for you.
As soon as the war started, chief sent me to get you.
But you were long gone.
Do you know
Chief was looking for you everywhere
now you're home, we no longer have to worry.
Miss, would you like to take a rest first?
This way please.
She has gone wild with the eighth rout.
This is not the problem.
The Japanese will know that we caught the foreigner in no time
the translator said that the Japanese wanted him alive.
said that they want to know some secret of the guy's plane.
Now that miss is involved.
ganging up with the eighth rout is a crime.
but if we turn the foreigner in...
Than we become traitors
You still remember what happened 3 years ago?
The Japanese will wipe us out with little hesitation
I never thought that we came from the same neighborhood.
There is nothing be bragging about.
Will you father turn us in?
Angel
I want to see the Japanese
What?
I will surrender
I caused all these
You are good people, I don't want you to die for me.
It is hopeless now.
Me, you and you
Have all fulfilled the duty of a soldier.
We lost our weapon.
We can stop fighting with a clear conscience.
And be treated according to the Geneva convention as a POW.
You whimp!
I am an US soldier without weapon.
I can choose to surrender.
The Japanese are after me.
You can all go free.
You think you can reason with the Japanese?
You saw what they did to the villagers
I am not a villager
I am a soldier.
I am a soldier, too.
I have to get you to the military base.
These are my orders.
Till I get any further instruction, I forbid you to surrender
Mr. Owen
I know that you think life is the most valuable thing on earth
and don't think surrender after doing your job is a disgrace.
But we,
we will rather die than to live in shame.
Even if there is only one bullet left, I will not stop fighting.
But will can not lose our lives in vain
Iife
You think only your life is precious?
You think that we shall...
give up our lives for yours?
Let go of him
Stop fighting
Miss
Since you are back
You can go and visit your mother's grave tomorrow.
You take a rest, we'll talk tomorrow.
Don't you worry that I will run away?
You should stay in your own room.
I never let anyone but you come in here
You are home, don't ever say about leaving.
don't worry, I won't leave without them
I often thought that I should hug you one more time.
But you are too old for that now.
You really want to turn them in to the Japs?
The Japanese want the foreigner
I have to take care of the whole village.
We lost 30 people for just one man
Darkie has been our foe for years
Put me back to the prison.
A girl shouldn't be staying with two guys
I am a soldier, I do this everyday.
With uniform, you are a soldier,
But without it, you are my daughter.
I should never have sent her to school.
There is nothing to be done now, I will deal with her later.
What about those two?
She is your daughter, but those two have nothing to do with you.
We don't have to die for the outsider
And our foe...
Darkie is our sworn enemy.
There can only be one of us.
Don't worry, I know what to do
But the foreigner...
The translator, Mr. Sun want me to take the Japs to the hot spring tomorrow.
How about this...
You take care of Darkie
And I wait till the time is right, tell the Japs about the foreigner.
When the Japs arrive, Darkie will be dead.
And the foreigner...
Darkie
It's me, I come to visit you.
I have been looking for you for so long
Darkie, and now you come to our doorstep.
Let me out, let do one-on-one.
Or you can come in.
Darkie
You guy made me lose my masculinity, do you remember?
That's in the past, but not the Japs...
Shut up
You forced me into celibacy, how can I forget that?
Now it is you turn, there really is a God.
I am busy tomorrow, so I think I just drop by and say goodbye.
Mother...
Go away
I want to see your Chief.
He is not here for the moment.
Where did he go?
How about the other two?
He took them with him.
You got to pay what you owe.
Your family took seven lives of ours, and now we take one of yours.
Today we will settle this.
We are losing our country, and you are thinking about settling old debts?
These are two completely different matters.
You let the American go this has nothing to do with him
Don't worry about the American.
Miss, your clothes.
Go and close the door, I want to change.
Come on gentlemen.
Bathing in the hot spring is very healthy.
Miss
Miss is gone.
Angel
Don't worry
They won't touch me.
Go get her down. yes, sir.
Don't touch me.
Everybody freeze
Untie them.
You want to see me die?
I count to three and then I'll pull.
1
2
get the horses.
Well done Angel, well done
If anyone shoots at us or chases us...
I will pull.
That was meant for the Japs.
I never thought...
I will be using it under such circumstances.
Only my daughter is able to do such a thing.
Mr. Sun, I got you your foreigner.
Mister...
Mister
By this time the Japanese knew our position and our goal.
And they blocked all the crossing the to Yellow River.
Grandfather hid us in an ancient temple deep in the mountain,
Because the monk was a friend of his.
After he got us settled in, Darkie left to search for the guerrilla again.
Angel and I stayed at the temple.
Every day we carried water swept the yard for the old monk.
She said it was their custom.
Within the walls of the temple, the war seemed far away.
I was lost in the mysterious ambiance of the Oriental culture.
The birds and the evergreen were our companions.
Angel and I had our own little paradise
Angel told me much of the long standing oriental culture
Her stories of illusion
of romance, war and love were magnificent.
Grandpa and Huahua visited me often.
Every visit was like a holiday.
Granap said we could cross the river by carrying calabashes.
He knew a spot where we can swim across
He was true China man, extremely wise.
They have ways finding ingenious solutions to their problems.
Angel, I am tired.
You mean that you are hunger
The scorpions not only healed my wounds
but also turned me into a rooster that loved to eat insects.
Fly an airplane.
To fight the Japs.
I am a friend of the Chinese people.
I am a friend...
of the Chinese... of the Chinese.
People People
Right I am a friend of Angel's
I am Angel's best friend.
Yes.
You are brave soldiers, but you don't value life
Like the other day, I fought with Darkie...
This war will end sooner or later Being alive is a victory.
We are very different.
But we do have one thing in common.
We have love.
Grandpa, Huahua, Darkie, and you
I can see you all have a lot of love.
That is the Yellow River.
That is where we want to go.
It's beautiful.
Angel, there is something I want to ask you
Why do you always...
have a grenade by you side?
Sorry
Maybe I shouldn't ask
Nothing
Sanpao, any messages?
You win
It's destiny
My daughter worked with you
Please spare her
Good, that's what a real man is
It's one-on-one
We are never able to settle the debt between our families
But now we have to act reasonably
I want to reason with you today
Go ahead
We are both Chinese
The Japs have killed so many Chinese
He came all the way to help us fight the Japs
And this is how we repay him?
You should know, we must do the right thing
That is what we live for
We can not give the Chinese a bad name
And I want to tell you about your daughter
That's not necessary
You go ahead
We are both is the army, I know a few things about her
But I don't know we came from the same neighborhood,
only that she is a student from the city
Do you know why she always carries a grenade?
I am a warrior
I am also a woman
I could get into trouble anytime
I could get lost, get caught or get killed
If I have to choose between death and captured
We women can only choose death.
Because I know that the Japs...
are devils.
I finally understood
this dear Chinese girl standing in front of me
The Japanese have forced her and her countrymen to live
under terrible conditions
The Chinese would rather die fight the Japanese
than loose their dignity and live
You have to stay alive
Never get discouraged.
We will get through the hardship.
You will have your own children in the future.
They will be as...
beautiful as you
We have another cargo crossing the river tomorrow
Please take care of it
Same place tomorrow
There are fruits all over the mountains
Little sister is sewing along...
Watch out don't hurt your fingers
That will make me very sorry
Chief...
What?
Let's go
You really let Darkie go?
The moon is full
I, being a bachelor, feeling very upset
I take you cross the river tomorrow
But... please let my daughter stay
It's time for you to get married
That's my business
Come what may, I am still your father
Sir, she must go with me
She is my daughter
But I love her
You are not sick, are you?
I am sober
Mr. Owen
I am the only one who can decide my future
see you at the dock tomorrow.
The Japanese are gone.
He got us a boat.
They are our sword enemies for 13 generations
He cannot be trusted.
I can feel that he is cheating.
He must be cheating
What is this?
It's is home
Home
No, this is just a cave
Home should be...
This is Huahua
There should be flowers
Right and flowers
Angel
When we go back, don't go back to the army
I will fly you back
You can finish your study.
Medical collage
right, and I will discharge from the army.
flowers
Those flowers are beautiful.
This is me, does it look like me?
Yes, and there is antie
Right, and antie
Angel
My people are still at war
I understand, but you have already...
served in the army for 5 years
Lag...
Yes
But when someone is holding a knife against your neck
You have no right
You take it
But I wish... you will never have to use it
I will protect you
I won't allow you be threatened by death
Listen
It's the Yellow River
Angel talked a lot about the Yellow River
Only then, as I stood on it's banks
did I understand its overwhelming strength and power
Only by standing by her, can one understand
why they call it the mother river of China
It is truly a symbol of the spirit of that nation
We are almost home
Home
When you cross the mountain, you will get to the dock
Is there any film left?
One last photo
I would like to take a picture here
It's my pleasure
Can you give me the picture?
Sure
I will give you all your pictures
That's a promise
A promise
Angel
I love you
Ready?
Don't worry
Where are the rowers?
They are inside
Chief, I didn't...
The Japanese offered big money, so we...
You are finally by our side.
You are doing this for me
We only want your daughter to turn the pilot in
This I did for my daughter
Take care, it's cold outside.
Get on your horses
Sister see you off
Please come back
Please remember that I am waiting for you
I get on the big horse
Galloping all the way
Tomorrow I will be home
To see my sweet heart
Let's go
Where to?
Back to the wolf beach, I told grandpa to wait for us there
Grandpa
Take the calabashes and cross the river I will take care of them.
No, I am staying
Darkie, don't play games with me.
I have been watching your old man for quite some time.
Come out like a man and fight.
Darkie, let's get things straight.
Give us the American, the Japanese will let you go
Get him across the river before it's too late.
What about you?
I can swim across.
I can't swim.
I can pull you
Hurry
Darkie, don't shoot, look who this is
Call your father, he is right there
Daddy
Call him
You hear
Hurry, call him
Japs want the foreign uncle
Darkie, we are both Chinese, why get into trouble for an American?
You don't deserve to be called a Chinese.
Good, don't blame me then
Daddy
Huahua, Daddy cannot listen to the Japs Daddy is with the eighty rout army.
Do you know that?
Yes
Go into the water.
Cry
Shout
One more time
What are you doing?
We can not be captured alive.
No
Don't kill me
Foreign uncle
Good, you have not broken it.
Didn't you want to capture me alive?
Shoot me
You dare not kill me
You don't dare
Stop
If you move
I will pull
If you shoot me
I will pull
You bastard wouldn't shoot me
Quick, go into the river
I... can't
Leave the gun and your stuff
Quick, go into the water
You take the film
We are going to swim across the river together
Come on
Don't leave me to the Japs
Take me into the river
Come on...
We will be together forever
Down...
Angel
It hurts so much
they hit my back
Hang on tight, we are going to cross this river
When we cross the river, we can go home
Come on, we are almost home.
Our home...
Our home
Angel...
My angel gave her life for us
rather than surrender her pure body to the enemy
She gave her self to the mother river
I guess I knew it from the first time I laid eyes on her
She was the most beautiful thing that I have ever seen
An Angel
She delivered me from the darkness of death
And guided me into the light of life.
Huahua, what about her?
Afterwards, I was returned to Chiando
It's been over 50 years now
All I remember is she was called Huahua
But I know as long as she is alive, she will remember this river
Because it has love
Can you give me the picture?
It's a deal.