A series of struggles and successes

To prepare for the production, Clarke's team did research across the country spanning from the mountainous rural area in southwestern Yunnan province to the developed eastern coast and cities like Shanghai.

"All of our research was about finding four stories which would not only be entertaining and emotionally engaging, but also, importantly… not unique," Clarke said at the premiere of the documentary in Beijing on Tuesday.

"We wanted to depict stories that were typical of what has been happening in villages, towns and cities all over China, (and) experiences that have been shared by many millions of Chinese people," he says.

Main characters in the documentary include a Party branch committee secretary who is devoted to lifting villagers out of poverty by helping them find jobs and a female truck driver who leaves her rural hometown to pursue economic independence while challenging gender stereotypes.

Some almost heroic efforts in the pursuit of a dream are depicted through people like an acrobat who has established his family in Shanghai, but still desperately tries to prolong his stage career, despite his age and physical pain. Alongside them are the express delivery entrepreneurs who have changed the path of their lives through years of hard work.