Outside the dream factory
By Li Ning and Zhu Yu
Publisher:China Daily - Publication Date: 11-02-2008

From inside the gate of the Beijing Film Studio, a middle-aged woman shouts: "I need 20 bitpart actors. Who wants to go?" Immediately a group of people who were squatting outside the gate gather around her. "What's the pay?" a few people ask.

"Thirty yuan (US$4)." Silence. The woman ups the offer: "Fifty ($7)." Sixteen people follow her.

They arrive at an old building near the Beijing Railway Station. But they are told that only three of them have the right hair. The others have to cut their hair short. Some refuse and leave, murmuring about the traveling fee of 2 yuan ($0.27).

Among them is Zhang Feng. The 50-something has been in Beijing for four years. She rents a small room in Beijing's suburban Huairou district. The monthly rent is 100 yuan ($13.60). But usually she can be found at the Beijing Film Studio's warehouse. She says she knows Zhao Benshan, a popular comedian from Northeast China.

"Do you know Zhao Benshan went to Beijing Film Academy the other day?" she asks people from inside the studio. "Did you see him? Did you mention me to him? We came from the same village! The Zhang from his village! Tell him I miss him. He is a nice guy."

Zhang is among tens of thousands waiting for a part in a TV show or film. Although few of them will never become stars, Zhang and other wannabes do not give up.

But several days may pass before she can get work. "I'm old, what can I play?" If she is lucky and gets a role, she may only be paid 25 yuan ($3.40).

Zhang tried out for drama troupes many times when she was young, but her parents would not let her join. Now older and freer, she joins the dreamers outside the studio in Beijing.

She has two packs of cigarettes in her pocket at all times. The more expensive pack is for those who might be able to get her work, while she smokes the cheap pack. Pancakes are her everyday food, and occasionally she asks for free hot water to dip them in. Sometimes she buys scraps from nearby restaurants.

Liu, another aspiring actor, never eats scraps and instead cooks with a little alcohol heater near the film studio.

"Look at my clothes and food, I'm different from others," says the young man. But he seems reluctant to reveal his origins. He usually sleeps beside the road. When asked why he doesn't sleep with the other dreamers in the underpass, he replies: "It is smelly there!" "Do you know why I am here? I am waiting for some VIPs to kneel before me," he says.

Lin Tingting is a good-looking girl. She joined the group two weeks ago. She says that before this she was a massage therapist, earning 1,100 yuan ($150) a month. But she wanted to give acting a try, to "experience a different kind of life".

Since first appearing as an extra in a film, her pet phrase has been: "Keep my photo. When I become famous, you won't have another chance to take a photo of me."

Lin lives in the basement at the studio and even though she can't afford the 300 yuan ($41) per month rent, the landlord has not charged her after hearing her story. Lin does part-time modeling work and earns 30 yuan ($4) for half a day.

At 39, Li Haitao has gray hair. He says he used to serve in the army but retired because people considered him mentally unstable. He was hospitalised until 1992. After that he came to Beijing, doing bitparts.

He says his biggest wish is to get a certificate proving he is a normal person, so that he can return to his hometown and lead a normal life.

In the morning, the dreamers join retirees in physical exercises. But they are not doing it to keep fit. Wearing thin clothes and living on little food, they have to keep warm in the chilly Beijing winter until spring arrives.

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