半年都在冬季的东北的国营林场，在中国工业化起步的关键时期，长达半个世纪源源不断地输送着优质木材，有力地推动了中国经济建设的车轮滚滚向前。然而，长期毫无节制的高强度采伐，加之采育工作严重失调，采育失衡的生态警报终于在世纪之交拉响。随着资源枯竭，数万名林业工人“挂锯停斧”，以此谋生的工人逐渐离开，使这里陷入发展停滞，掀开了东北林区艰难转型的序幕。而选择继续留在这片土地的、被抛弃人们，经历了人生的起伏，逐渐认清了生活的本质。
In the northeast of China, where winter lasts half the year, the state-owned forest farms played a crucial role during the early stages of China’s industrialization. For half a century, they continuously supplied high-quality timber, powerfully driving the rapid progress of China’s economic construction. However, decades of unrestricted intensive logging, coupled with severe imbalances between logging and afforestation efforts, finally sounded the ecological alarm at the turn of the century. As resources dwindled, tens of thousands of forestry workers were forced to “hang up their saws and axes,” and those who relied on this industry for their livelihood gradually left, leading to a stagnation in development and marking the beginning of the arduous transformation of the northeast forest region. Meanwhile, those who chose to remain in this forsaken land experienced the ups and downs of life, gradually coming to understand its true essence.
