In the Sardinian town of Tonara, where the ancient art of crafting cowbells teeters on the edge of extinction, a family battles to preserve their heritage, passing down skills to a new generation while grappling with personal struggles and the pull of modernity. English subtitles.
International trade has been ferried around the world via boat for centuries. If the business of shipping stopped tomorrow, half the world would starve, and the other half would freeze. A testament of humanity's will to tame the elements and expand our reach; shipping has pioneered new technologies, revolutionized the global economy and reshaped the world as we know it.
The implantation of African traders in Guangzhou is a recent phenomenon, on which Marie Voignier reports through her interlinking portraits of Jackie, Julie, Shanny who have come to set up their business on site. Amidst the monstrous accumulation of merchandise on the endless markets of the megacity, the film follows these African businesswomen grappling with the globalised Chinese economy.
Zhou Ying is sold to the powerful Shen family by her foster father, yet successfully escapes by sneaking into merchant Wu Ping’s palanquin. The Wu family agreed to take her in after witnessing her remarkable business acumen, and she ends up marrying Wu Ping. The drama will chronicle the life of the Qing Dynasty's richest female merchant, and her struggles to keep the Wu family business afloat during the last years of the Qing Dynasty. Shen Xingyi is a happy-go-lucky young sir who has never known hardship in his life. After meeting Zhou Ying, he eventually decides to change his ways and becomes a mature noble who is willing to protect his country and family from disaster. He has a seemingly unrequited love for Zhou Ying.
A 3 year trade war has created corporate casualties in both US and China. In China, a dual circulation model is now underway to mitigate the effects of US protectionism. In the US, a Biden administration mulls new economic measures against China, even as industry groups lobby for tariffs to be lifted. Both countries also brace for what used to be unthinkable- the possibility of a financial war.
