Interview with Bai Yongfu, Liu Yiyuan, Wang Shifa, Grandma Wang

Bai Yongfu (b. 1924) is a resident of Datong City. In this interview, Bai recalls the absurdity of the backyard steel furnaces, and the shortage of food during those years.

白永福1924年生，是山西省大同市居民。白老人回忆大炼钢铁时的荒唐情景，以及食物短缺吃不饱的经历。

Liu Yiyuan (b. 1941) is a resident of Datong City. In this interview, Liu recalls that he participated in the backyard steel furnace movement as a high school students. People ignored the field in order to make more iron and steel.

刘毅源1941年生，是山西省大同市居民。刘老人当时是高中生，也参加了大炼钢铁。他说人们为了炼钢铁，庄稼都不顾了。

Han Shifa (b. 1933) is a resident of Datong City. In this interview, Liu says that the difficulties in those years were because China needed to pay its debts to the Soviet Union. There were shortage of supplies. People were all hungry but they were united around Mao and there were stability and peace.

韩世发1933年生，是山西省大同市居民。韩老人说当年困难是因为要还苏联的债。所有物资都紧缺，粮食不够，人们都饿肚子。但社会稳定，人们团结。

Granny Wang is a resident of Datong City. Granny Wang says that people were so hungry that they ate all the tree leaves, and they still had to work for the village.

王奶奶是山西省大同市居民。王奶奶说当年饥饿得把树叶都吃光了。人们饿着肚子还要干活。

Transcripts for this interview and more may be available under the ‘Documents’ link above. 采访抄录和相关内容，请点击查看上面的’Documents’链接。